(The Provincial Government of Northern Samar Facebook)
TACLOBAN CITY— Northern Samar’s second district representative, Edwin Ongchuan, has highlighted measures he filed in Congress and programs he helped facilitate for his district during his first year in office.
In a report released Monday, July 27, Ongchuan said he filed several priority bills on his first day as a member of the 20th Congress, focusing on local economic development, infrastructure, social protection, healthcare, agriculture and education.
Among the measures he filed are bills seeking to establish a Green Lane for Micro Business Enterprises, institutionalize Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion Offices (LEDIPOs), upgrade the Simora-Palapag Road into a national road and provide livelihood assistance to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
He also filed measures seeking to expand Philippine Health Insurance Corp. benefits for barangay health workers, improve farmers’ access to agricultural technologies, establish a Bachelor of Science in Social Work program at the University of Eastern Philippines, create a proposed Samar Island Region and pursue the proposed Allen-Matnog Tunnel or Bridge project.
Ongchuan also authored resolutions calling for government action on rising fuel prices affecting Small Power Utilities Group areas and an investigation into electricity line rental charges in Eastern Visayas.
As vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, he also contributed to the passage of several national measures, including Republic Act No. 12316, or the Suspension of Excise Taxes on Petroleum Products Act, and Republic Act No. 12314, or the General Appropriations Act of 2025.
He was also among the principal authors of House Bill No. 4745, the House counterpart of Republic Act No. 12321, or the Last Mile and Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas Schools Act.
Beyond legislation, Ongchuan said his office coordinated with national government agencies, local governments and development partners to bring assistance to Northern Samar.
These included patient transport vehicles through the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, quality seeds from the Bureau of Plant Industry, and assistance from the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Health, Human Settlements and Urban Development, and Agriculture.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
