Congress OK of social protection bills to help PBBM attain Bagong Pilipinas
Cong. LRay Villafuerte:
ON the eve of the reopening of the 19th Congress, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte expressed the hope that both chambers can act during the remainder of their third and final legislative session on pending proposals on social protection meant to bring President Marcos closer to his vision of an affluent Bagong Pilipinas where no Filipino is left behind.
With eleven session weeks left before the Congress adjourns next year for the election campaign period, Villafuerte is “hopeful that lawmakers will still have time to consider passing additional measures aimed at helping the Marcos presidency fulfill its commitment to improve the lives of all Filipinos, most especially the poor and underprivileged sectors.”
“I am hoping that we will still have time to consider acting between now and before the 19th Congress ends next year on a slew of measures designed to provide additional financial support for such sectors as senior citizens and PWDs (persons with disabilities) as well as extra benefits for young Filipinos, teachers, barangay health workers (BHWs) and ordinary consumers,” Villafuerte, National Unity Party (NUP) president, who has pending separate measures tackling these concerns, said.
The House and Senate will be back to legislative work on Monday (Nov. 4) following the five-week break.
Legislative sessions will continue until Dec. 20, when lawmakers are set to take their traditional yearend break, and the Congress will reopen again on Jan. 13, 2025 and adjourn on Feb. 7, for the two-month campaign period for the May 12 congressional and local elections.
The 19th Congress will then hold its final session weeks from June 2 to 13, 2025 before adjourning sine die or for the last time.
Villafuerte is the lead author of HB 8223 establishing a Disability Support Allowance Program (DSAP) under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on the grant of a monthly stipend of P2,000 to PWDS, HB 7980 crafting a long-term quality care program for the elderly, HB 10423 providing for a universal pension for all elderly Filipinos and not just to indigent seniors, HB 8312 providing free health insurance coverage for “junior citizens” or Filipinos 12 years of age and below, and HB 6557 giving job security to our BHWs and “depoliticizing” their employment in local government units (LGUs).
He likewise appealed to his peers to consider other measures he had authored, including HB 5640 requiring property developers to build rainwater facilities in their buildings, HB 8203 creating an Immigration Fund (ITF) to modernize the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and providing a salary hike for its employees, HB 1851 raising the salary grade level of our public school teachers from Grade 11 to Grade 19, and HB 7977 expanding the list of basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs) to be covered by a price freeze during super typhoons and other natural calamities.
HB 1851, 5640, 7977, 7980, 8223 and HB 8312 are all pending in both the Senate and the House; while HB 6557, 8203 and HB 10423 have already been passed on third and final reading in the House and will thus only require approval by the Senate.
“Congressional approval of these measures are aligned with the President’s commitment to improve the lot of all Filipinos and leave nobody behind in our country’s march to high and inclusive growth,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte noted that the NUP entered in September into a coalition Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas with the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) of President Marcos, along with other allied major political parties, in preparation for the 2025 mid-term polls.
He said that this coalition was the “logical conclusion” of the NUP’s two-year close working partnership with the Chief Executive and his Administration, in pursuit of Mr. Marcos’ Bagong Pilipinas vision of better lives for all Filipinos.
Villafuerte said the NUP’s alliance with the PFP and allied parties Lakas-CMD, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), and Nacionalista Party (NP), which was formally sealed at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City two months ago, will enable the NUP “to work together with the PFP and other alliance partners on advancing a Bagong Pilipinas that promises a robust and inclusive growth and development for all Filipinos.”
He said that the NUP, as the second biggest political group in the Congress, has “played a significant role in helping our President and his Administration pursue and attain deep and fundamental transformations over the past two years, leading to post-pandemic recovery.”
President Marcos has approved 103 laws since the start of the third and final session of the 19th Congress, of which 35 were co-authored by Villafuerte.
These are RA 12010, or the “Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA); RA 11997, or the “Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act;” and RA 12021, or the “Magna Carta of Seafarers.”
Villafuerte explained that the “Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act” provides for a higher tax-free annual allowance of P10,000 next schoolyear not only for public school teachers with teaching loads in basic education but even vocational instructors, librarians, guidance counselors, and teachers in the Alternative Learning System (ALS) and community learning centers as well.
The Magna Carta of Seafarers bestows ample powers upon the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and other concerned agencies to better protect our about 700,000 seafarers from the time of their training and recruitment up to their retirement from the profession, he said, at this time of a surging global demand for Filipino mariners, he said.
Meanwhile, he said, the AFASA law shores up the defense of ourn domestic digital infrastructure for the protection of our netizens, many of whom are worried about falling prey to online financial scams amid the Philippines’ unwanted reputation as a cybercrime hotbed in the world.
