The House of Representatives has listed 14 priority bills, including several education-friendly measures, that it will fast-track for approval before the first regular session of the Congress adjourns on June 13, 2014.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.  and other House leaders earlier met with Senate President Franklin Drilon and other Senate counterparts to identify the list of legislative measures that both chambers could swiftly approve within the limited time frame.

"We have to prioritize and synchronize our actions in the House with that of the Senate to maximize output for the remaining 1st regular session of the 16th Congress," said Belmonte, who is also the honorary chairman of the National Unity Party (NUP).

The list agreed upon by the two chambers include six pro-education measures, namely: the 1) Ladderized Education Program for the post-secondary level (House Bill 3575 - approved on 3rd reading by the House, and pending in the appropriate Senate committee);

2) Providing for an Open High School System for out-of-school youths (HB 4085 - approved on 3rd reading by the House, and pending at the committee level in the Senate); 3) Open Learning Through Distance Education in the Post Secondary and Tertiary Levels Act – (House committee report being prepared, and pending at the Senate committee level); 4) National Student Loan Program Act – (substitute bill referred to the House appropriations committee, pending with the appropriate panel in the Senate);

5) Special Education Center – (substitute bill referred to the House appropriations committee, also pending in the appropriate Senate panel; and 6) Iskolar ng Bayan Act – (pending in the appropriate committees of both the House and Senate).

Belmonte said the priority list also includes two health measures—the bills 7) providing for mandatory Philhealth coverage for all senior citizens (pending in the appropriate committees of the House and Senate) and 8) another providing for picture-based health warnings on cigarette packs (pending in the concerned committees in the House and now in the period of interpellation in the Senate).

The remaining six priority measures are the bills  9) extending the corporate life of the Philippine National Railways (HB 4089 - approved on 3rd reading by the House and pending at  the committee level in the Senate); 10) mandating telecommunications service providers to send free mobile alerts in the event of natural and man-made disasters and calamities (HB 353 - approved by the House on 3rd reading and approved on 3rd reading by the Senate);
11) amending certain provisions of the Sandiganbayan Law  (for committee report preparation in the House, and currently in the period of interpellation in the Senate); 12) instituting reforms in the Sangguniang Kabataan  (for committee deliberations in the House and pending in the appropriate Senate committee); 13) strengthening the Anti-Illegal Drugs Law (HB 2285 - approved on 3rd reading by the House, and pending in the appropriate committee in the Senate); and 14) amending the Fisheries Code  (now under study by a technical working group in the House, and pending at the committee level in the Senate).