Congressmen file bills vs high prices, low wages on first day of their term

PHILIPPINE LAWMAKERS on Monday jump-started the legislative mill under the 20th Congress by filing bills on key socioeconomic issues including high rice prices, healthcare, low wages and education.

- By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Congressional staff lined up at the House of Representatives to file the measures on the first day of their bosses' term, with the queue starting as early as 5 a.m.

"We can see that the need for affordable basic necessities remains pressing for our people," House spokeswoman Priscilla Marie T. Abante told a news briefing in Filipino.

Lawmakers won't start sessions until July 28, when President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. delivers his fourth annual state of the nation address before Congress.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez submitted the first bill, which seeks to reform the National Food Authority (NFA) as part of efforts to bring down rice prices, according to a copy of the measure sent to reporters.

House Bill No. 1 seeks to amend a law that liberalized the rice industry by restoring the NFA's regulatory powers, allowing it to intervene in the rice market when there are price spikes.

The measure also lets the NFA's inspect grain warehouses and seize hoarded rice stocks and release them to the public to keep rice prices down during shortages and suspected market manipulation.

It also proposes to allow the NFA to maintain buffer rice stocks from local rice farmers and empowers the agency to set floor prices for rough rice.

"We cannot fight hunger without confronting price manipulation," Mr. Romualdez said in a statement. "This bill is not about going backwards to failed models. It is about smarter regulation."