THE HOUSE of Representatives will focus on bills that aim to strengthen national security and spur economic development, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said on Tuesday, ahead of the resumption of sessions in Congress next week.

“Our legislative focus… [are] on the dual imperatives of national security and robust development,” Mr. Romualdez said in a statement. “Peace is the cornerstone of prosperity, we aim to enact laws that fortify our national de-fense and enhance our international security posture.”

Passing House bills that strengthen the country’s security is critical to maintaining “sovereignty and stability” amid foreign, external threats, he said.

Strengthening peace and security is key to creating an environment capable of spurring economic growth, he added, explaining the need to prioritize security and economic bills.

“These, in turn, contribute to further stabilizing our nation by reducing poverty, creating jobs… which in turn diminishes the likelihood of social unrest,” he said.

The House is also looking to deliberate bills that could expand access to public healthcare for Filipinos. “We are committed to expanding access and… making healthcare affordable and accessible.”

Bills seeking to enhance the digital infrastructure of the country are also a priority, he said.

While the House already passed a measure seeking to open public utilities, schools, and advertising to foreigners, Mr. Romualdez said they also passed “more dynamic economic policies” that are geared towards attracting more foreign investment.

“We enacted pivotal tax reform designed… (to) simplify the tax code, encouraging investment,” he said. “These measures have laid the groundwork for a more robust economic framework, attracting foreign investments and stimulating local entrepreneurship.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

THE GOVERNMENT should strive to modernize its registry database of agricultural workers for an updated and more efficient prioritization of fuel subsidy beneficiaries, a farmers groups said on Monday.

“Fuel subsidies should be provided to farmers,” Jayson H. Cainglet, executive director of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, told BusinessWorld in a phone call. “The problem is the mechanism itself, the registry system.”

At P3,000 per farmer, the government’s allocation of P510 million for fuel subsidies this year will only cover a total of 170,000 farmers, pushing farmers’ groups to call for the Department of Agriculture (DA) to improve its regis-try system to identify those most direly in need of the assistance.

Recognizing fuel subsidies cannot be provided to all, Raul Q. Montemayor, national manager of the Federation of Free Farmers, said the government should formulate a guideline to properly identify farmers who should receive the aid.

“There has to be some prioritization and eligibility criteria since the government cannot possibly give to all farmers,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.

Small-scale farmers owning less than three hectares of farmland should be prioritized as they are most vulnerable to price shocks in oil products, Mr. Cainglet said. “Those producing five and six hectares above can better fare increases in fuel prices,” he said.

The Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) could be used as a system to determine farmers needing fuel subsidies, he added.

However, farmers find registering to the system difficult. “There are too many membership requirements, the system is rigid,” said Mr. Cainglet.

This results in the registry database being incomplete as some farmers opt not to enlist, Mr. Montemayor said. “(It is) incomplete. Some are not real farmers, some farmers are not yet listed, and data such as land area, and crops planted are not yet complete,” he said. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio