8 LEDAC priority bills now in advanced committee stages

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February 17, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Eight priority measures of President Marcos listed under the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) have now reached advanced stages at the committee level in the House of Representatives.

House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos noted that all of these bills have already been approved by their respective main panels and are now pending comments from the House’s committee on appropriations for funding purposes and requirements.

“These committee-level approvals show that the House is doing the hard work early under the leadership of Speaker (Faustino) Dy III – building consensus, refining policy and making sure the measures we bring to the floor are ready,” Marcos said.

“Our focus remains on bills that directly affect education, health, food security and social protection – areas where legislation translates into real impact for Filipino families,” the lawmaker added.

Marcos, now on his second term, said yesterday the progress reflects “steady movement in the House’s legislative work,” even as LEDAC convened last Feb. 10 to take stock of priority measures still in the pipeline.

Approved by their main committees and now awaiting fiscal and funding-related comments are the bill modernizing the Bureau of Immigration; the proposed National Land Use Act; the measure creating an Independent People’s Commission; the Presidential Merit Scholarship Program; amendments to the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act; amendments to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program Act; amendments to the Magna Carta for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises; and a proposal resetting the elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, all of which are pending comments with the appropriations.

Removing travel tax to lower plane fares

While the proposal to remove the travel tax may have some cutbacks, this will, in the long run, be offset by lower plane fares that may produce around P22 billion in annual revenues for the government, an administration lawmaker said.

“The overall figure that will be lost if we remove this travel tax is P7.5 billion annually. But under our computation, the augmentation in terms of income tax – because profits will definitely be higher – this might even reach P22 billion. So, it’s really a no-brainer,” Rep. Miro Quimbo said.

Quimbo, the chairman of the House ways and means committee, made these pronouncements in support of House Bill 7443, authored by Marcos, that has now been included in the list of priority measures under LEDAC.

In an interview over radio station dzBB, he highlighted the fact that lower fares could mean a 20 percent reduction in ticket costs for popular destinations such as Singapore and Bangkok.

Under Marcos’ proposal, the government will remove the current levy of P1,620 for economy-class passengers and P2,700 for first-class travelers.

Quimbo said the House is targeting its passage before their June break.