The House of Representatives and Speaker Alan Peter “Compañero” Cayetano gained an all-time high total satisfaction rating of 63% and 67% respectively in the last quarter of 2019 based on the results of the Social Weather Survey (SWS).
According to the survey, 63% of the Filipinos were satisfied and 12% were dissatisfied with the performance of the House of Representatives as an institution, making its net satisfaction rating equivalent to 51%. This is a marked improvement from its net satisfaction rating of 43% in the Third Quarter of 2019.
For the past three decades, the net satisfaction ratings of the Lower Chamber have ranged from as low as -9 to +48.
Since he assumed leadership in the House of Representatives, Speaker Cayetano has always reminded his colleagues to continue doing what is right to make them worthy of the trust of the public.
From the 57% satisfaction rating of the House of Representatives in September 2019, it rose to +63 in December due to improvements in public satisfaction ratings in Mindanao, Balance Luzon, and the Visayas, combined with a steady score in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, the number of people satisfied with the leadership and performance of Speaker Alan Cayetano has increased from a total 64% in September 2019 to 67% in December 2019.
Speaker Cayetano thanked his colleagues in the 18th Congress for their active support and participation in making the institution relevant, responsive and reliable.
“We are so humbled by the positive appreciation and recognition of the public on the work of the House Representatives as an institution. It inspires us to work harder to achieve our targets and pursue crucial sustainable reforms to deliver a safe and comfortable life for the Filipinos,” Cayetano said in a statement.
According the SWS, the net satisfaction rating of Speaker Alan Cayetano also improved from “good” to “very good”, up from +49 in September 2019 to +53 in December 2019, making him the first Speaker to receive “very good” rating since 1988.
As Speaker of the House, Cayetano led the House of Representatives in the passage of seven laws after six months since the start of Congress. These laws include the Php 4.1-trillion General Appropriations Act of 2020; Salary Standardization Law of 2019 (SSL V); Malasakit Center Act; Postponement of the Conduct of the 2020 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections; the law increasing the excise tax rate on alcohol beverages and electronic cigarettes; the law extending the availability of the 2019 Appropriations to December 31, 2020; and the law designating the third Sunday of November every year as the National Day for Road Crash Victims and Their Families.
“In the House of Representatives, we stand united to institutionalize reforms that will ensure the realization of the President’s vision of delivering a safe and comfortable life for Filipinos,” said Cayetano.
A number of tax reform measures that are responsive to the President’s agenda, mentioned during the President’s State of the Nation Address in July, have also been approved by the House of Representatives and transmitted to the Senate.
Among those that were approved on final reading are the three other packages under the proposed Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, namely: the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act; the Corporate Income Tax and Incentive Rationalization Act; and the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Act.
Other priority bills such as the bill creating the Department of Filipino Overseas and the bill establishing the Department of Disaster Resilience are now under the Period of Interpellation, while the bill creating the National Academy for Sports has been approved on Third Reading.
For the period of July 22 to December 18, 2019 the House of Representatives was able to process 900 measures, which is almost three times the measures processed during the 17th Congress (321) and five times during the 16th Congress (200), averaging with 28 measures processed per session day and making it the most productive Congress in recent years.