MANILA - A measure seeking the creation of the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport has been refiled at the House of Representatives. House ways and means committee chairman Joey Salceda filed House Bill No. 2228, which proposes amendments that would remove provisions that pose fiscal risks to the country, as earlier contained in House Bill No. 7575 which was vetoed by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. last month. A copy of the bill was sent to House media on Wednesday. The new measure, Salceda said, explicitly states that the ecozone shall be fully subject to the rules, procedures, including approvals, and regulations under Title XIII of the Tax Code (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE Act). Salceda also proposed explicitly stating that the power of the ecozone authority to grant incentives shall be a delegated power from the Fiscal Incentives Review Board, which would address the President's concern about the "
The House of Representatives moved one step closer to completing the reorganization of its committees Monday, Aug. 8 after more solons were designated to their respective panel chairmanships.
(File photo/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Making the motion to designate the various House members to thei
Senators have selected a new batch of chairpersons among themselves to head various committees in the 19th Congress.
Senator Mark Villar has been elected to head the Committee on Banks, Financial Institution and Currencies; Senator Bong Revilla to the Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorgan
MANILA - A lawmaker on Monday assured President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. that the House of Representatives will introduce safeguards to address the fiscal and economic concerns regarding the measure creating the Bulacan airport ecozone. Albay Rep. Joey Salceda stressed the need to provide "conventional checks and balances" as he committed to file a version of the bill that considers the President's reasons for vetoing it. "We need to put some limits and checks and balances to it," Salceda said in a media interview. He said the House will require a cost-and-benefit analysis of the proposed Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (BACSEZFA). "So, as early as now, I am telling potential investors and other proponents to give us a sense of their plans so that we can already weigh the costs versus the benefits. What I can assure the President and the public is that we will make sure that the concerns in the veto message
New Manila International Airport, also known as Bulacan International Airport (Photo courtesy of SMC) MANILA - Despite the aborted jobs and livelihoods that would have benefited his province mates, Senator Joel Villanueva said Sunday that he respects the veto on House Bill (HB) 7575 that sought to establish the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (BACSEZFA) in Bulakan town. Villanueva, who hails from Bocaue town and is the author of the Senate counterpart measure, found the decision "unfortunate" as it had the potential to create jobs. He said he is still looking forward to working with the new administration and pushing for legislation and policies in harmony with the priorities of the Executive. "We fully supported the passage of the Bulacan freeport bill as it aims to provide jobs and livelihoods for our kababayan (countrymen), as well as develop the country's economy with investments and infrastructure," Villanueva said in a sta