The House passed on final reading a bill granting President Rodrigo Duterte special powers to combat red tape in times of national emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic.

House Bill (HB) No. 7884 breezed through the lower chamber from the time ranking lawmakers, led by newly installed Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, filed it late Wednesday evening, October 14, to its 2nd reading approval in the plenary past midnight on Friday, October 16.

Roughly 21 hours after its 2nd reading approval, HB 7884 was approved on 3rd and final reading. A total of 267 lawmakers voted yes, while only 6 rejected the measure. No legislator abstained from the vote.

HB 7884 empowers the President to expedite the processing and issuance of national and local permits, licenses, and certifications when a national emergency is declared in the country. 

The bill would allow Duterte to: 

• Accelerate regulatory processes for applications and renewals of permits, licenses, clearances, certifications, or authorizations
• Suspend requirements in securing such government documents
• Establish a more streamlined regulatory process for government offices

The anti-red tape bill would also authorize the President to suspend or remove any government official or employee that would violate provisions of the measure. 

The House turned itself into a committee of the whole in the wee hours of Friday to approve the bill. After hurdling the committee level, HB 7884 was then passed by the plenary on 2nd reading via viva voce voting or a vote of ayes and nays.

Duterte’s letter to the House certifying HB 7884 as urgent was sent to the Batasang Pambansa around lunch time on Friday. This was why the House was able to waive the mandatory 3-day interval between a bill’s 2nd and 3rd readings.

The Senate already passed its version of the bill on Wednesday, October 14.

There would be no need to convene a bicameral conference committee to thresh out conflicting provisions of the two bills since the House and the Senate versions are a carbon copy of each other. This means the enrolled copy of the bill can directly be sent to Malacañang for Duterte’s signature.

Duterte had asked the leaders of Congress in a recent meeting to pass a bill enabling him to cut red tape and corruption in the bureaucracy.

House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said they are supporting Duterte’s goal to fight red tape in government and would push to swiftly pass HB 7884. 

“We have to help the President in his campaign to put a stop to deep-rooted, systemic, and systematic corruption in government,” said the Leyte 1st District congressman.

If passed into law, the anti-red tape bill would give Duterte more special powers as the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, Duterte already signed into law the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2 that extended special powers for handling the pandemic and provides a P165.5-billion fund for addressing the health crisis.

To date, the Philippines has tallied over 346,000 cases of COVID-19 with 6,449 deaths and 293,860 recoveries. – Rappler.com