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Tomorrow, the Fourteenth Congress of the
Philippines begins its regular session with the State of the Nation
address of the President.
Thereafter, both the Senate and
the House of Representatives are expected to pass legislations that
would address the pressing needs of the country or perhaps improve
the lives of the Filipino people.
Hopefully in the next three years
of the Fourteenth Congress, it enacts legislative measures along
these lines:
1. A enabling law that would
finally define, prohibit and dismantle political dynasties in the
country’s political environment as mandated by the Constitution.
2. A law that would strengthen
political parties by prohibiting and punishing political turncoats,
granting state subsidy and funding of major political blocks, and
assuring transparency in electoral campaign spending and
contribution.
3. A law that would at least
lessen, if not eliminate, red tape in government particularly in the
delivery of frontline public services whereby the general public
availing of the services of government is treated as kings and
queens by the bureaucracy.
4. A law that would define the
appropriate land use classification of every piece of the
country’s territory taking into account local and regional
profiles and settings and make land as a real engine for economic
growth.
5. A law that would impose heavy
taxation on idle lands to serve the ends of the economy, the
environment and social justice. When land is unproductive, its
economic and environmental functions are stifled. What is worse is
when landowners derive undue profits from their idle possessions
through sheer speculative activities.
6. A law that would grant the
Commission on Human Rights and the Commission on Audit
quasi-judicial powers or even the authority to prosecute all cases
involving government officials and employees that violate laws
within their ambit.
7. A law that would exempt from
income taxation employees earning below the yearly poverty threshold
as determined by the National Economic and Development Authority,
and not merely based on existing minimum wage structures as
proposed, and lift taxes or prohibit imposition of charges on small
time deposits and investments.
8. A law that would ensure
prosecution of tax cheats by prohibiting taxpayers from entering
into a compromise with the Bureau of Internal Revenue or the Bureau
of Customs after deliberately evading the payment of taxes or
duties.
9. A law that would automatically
give scholarship to any or all students who demonstrated excellent
academic performance in any school of their choice within the
Philippines, private or public.
10. A law that would support,
finance, subsidize, or give incentives to Filipino inventors and
their inventions.
Of course, this list can go on
and on as if there is a shortage of laws in this country. But the
truth is there are tens of thousand of law in the country’s
statute books. Many of them are in fact good laws which have long
been forgotten or rarely being implemented.
Keen political observers in fact
would often say that this country does not need more laws. What it
needs is the difficult task of better and more effective means of
demanding obedience to existing laws.
Perhaps, one of the important
things that this present Congress should also do is to take an
inventory of all the laws of the Republic and start proceeding with
the tedious task of codifying them for better implementation.
What Greek philosopher Arcesilaus
observed as early as before the birth of Christ, when he said:
“Where you find the laws most numerous, there you will find also
the greatest injustice” should also provoke the thoughts of
Filipino solons.
It is hoped that the people of
this beautiful country still finds sense in the existence of
Congress.
(www.soriano-ph.com.)
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