Coordination with the House Committee on Natural Resources
This activity was consistently undertaken through emails, calls, and text particularly with House Committee on Natural Resources Secretary Raul M. Terso and his staffs. Said communication channels allows SFFI to get updates on the passage of the SFM Bill at the House of Representatives level and participate in Committee meetings as Resource Group on the SFM Bill and related legislations. Through this coordination, the SFFI has managed to advocate for the passage of the SFM Bill in the third and final reading of the House of Representatives during the 17th Congress and manifest its position in the same Bill during the 18th Congress. As mentioned earlier, the House Bill No. 9088 of the 17th Congress was re-filed in the 18th Congress with three other versions filed by three other sponsors. On November 13, 2019, the SFFI National Council President Tommy T. Valdez was again invited to deliver SFFI’s position that supports HB 106. As such, the HOR-CNR requested the SFFI to once again lead the consolidation of HBs 106, 1474, 3061, and 4891.