Sandro Marcos: Scholarship and Land Use Bills Ready for House Floor Vote

House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos announced Sunday that two priority bills — the Presidential Merit Scholarship Program and the National Land Use Act — have cleared the Appropriations Committee and are now ready for plenary approval.

Both measures were tagged as priorities by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC). The scholarship bill, sponsored by Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre, would institutionalize a merit-based scholarship program under the Commission on Higher Education for top-performing senior high school graduates. No more relying on shifting government priorities — the support would have a solid legal framework.

The National Land Use Act, meanwhile, aims to bring order to how the country manages its land resources. It would create a national framework and oversight body to resolve land use conflicts across agencies and government levels, with mandatory consultations from the regional level down to cities and municipalities.

‘These committee-level approvals show the House is doing the hard work,’ said the presidential son. He added that eight LEDAC priority bills are already at advanced stages in committee, reflecting what he called a disciplined push to align legislation with the administration’s priorities.

With the first regular session of the 20th Congress winding down, the 300-plus strong House is racing to get as much done as possible. As Sandro put it: ‘Alam namin na tunay na ginhawa ang hatid ng mga panukalang ito para sa ating mga kababayan.’

Source: Manila Bulletin