Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan is urging President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to certify four progressive bills to advance his administration’s anti-corruption, transparency, and good governance drive.
In an interview on DZBB on Thursday, December 11, the senator welcomed the inclusion of his sponsored measure—Senate Bill No. 1512 or the Independent People’s Commission (IPC) Act—in the Marcos administration’s legislative agenda.
“It’s a welcome move on the part of the President pero palagay ko, mas aani ng maraming suporta sa mga kababayan natin kapag cinertify niya na urgent yung apat,” he said.
The senator is referring to the IPC Act and three other measures also included in the President’s legislative agenda—the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill, the Party-list System Reform Act, and the Citizens Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act.
When asked why the certification is necessary, he explained that with 48 priority measures, unless these four bills are certified, then their chances of becoming law at the soonest possible time is greatly diminished.
The senator himself was invited to attend the LEDAC meeting earlier this week to present the IPC Act, a bill principally authored by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III but sponsored by Pangilinan as chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Certifying the bill as urgent expedites the legislative process as it waives the requirement of three separate readings on separate days, allowing the second and third readings to happen on the same day.
However, the bill still requires enough support in both the lower and upper chambers to pass.