On Rural Workers Month Lee to prioritize interests of farmers, fishers
Pulong seeks refunds for Internet outage
AS the country celebrates “Rural Workers Month” this June, AGRI Party-list Representative Wilbert T. Lee on Wednesday pledged to continue advocating for the rights and welfare of farmers and fisherfolk – sectors who play a “central role” in ensuring the food security of the country.
“Ipinagdiriwang natin tuwing buwan ng Hunyo ang Rural Workers Month upang kilalanin ang kontribusyon ng ating mga manggagawa sa mga kanayunan,” he said.
“Patuloy nating bibigyan ng atensyon at aksyon ang kanilang mga pangangailangan sa pamamagitan ng pag-aabot ng mga programa ng pamahalaan, at pagsusulong ng mga inisyatibang makatutulong sa panahon ng kagipitan,” Lee said.
The AGRI lawmaker has filed several bills to increase the productivity and incomes of farmers and fisherfolk, give them adequate social security, and help break the cycle of poverty in rural communities.
Lee’s proposed measures include House Bill (HB) No. 1295, which seeks to grant free tertiary agricultural education and other related courses to all dependent children of qualified indigent farmers; HB 2418, which amends the Sagip Saka Act and provides additional tax incentives on gifts and donations to accredited farmers and fisherfolk enterprises under the farmers and fisherfolk enterprise development program; and HB 2420, which provides agricultural pension and social security benefits to farmers and fisherfolk.
Lee also filed House Resolution 89, urging the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to prioritize farmers and fisherfolk as eligible beneficiaries in the agency’s move to accommodate new recipients of the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” (4Ps).
In a related development, lawmakers led by Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte have pressed for the passage of a law requiring public telecommunications companies to automatically give refunds to customers who experience intermittent or continuous Internet service disruptions of 24 hours or more in a month.
He said the measure as proposed under House Bill No. 8480, will ensure that subscribers pay only for the service they get and push telecom firms to provide “fast, reliable and uninterrupted” Internet connection.
HB 8480 was filed by Duterte with Benguet Rep. Eric Yap, ACT-CIS Party-list Reps. Jocelyn Tulfo and Edvic Yap, and Quezon City 2nd District Rep. Ralph Tulfo.
“While the telecommunications industry has continued to flourish in the country, Internet connection and reliability of service remains a persistent problem, along with exorbitant costs paid by consumers for Internet service,” he said.
In HB 8480’s explanatory note, the bill’s authors pointed out that the Philippines has among the most “expensive” fixed broadband services in Asia, resulting in its low ranking in the 2022 Digital Quality of Life Index (DQLI) independently conducted by the cybersecurity firm Surfshark.
The Philippines ranked 98th in the 2022 DQLI in terms of Internet affordability, down by 26 notches from its similarly low ranking of 72nd in 2021.
HB 8480 mandates public telecommunications entities (PTEs), including Internet service providers (ISPs), to institute a mechanism that would automatically provide customers refund credits or downward adjustments in their bills on a pro-rated basis whenever service outages or disruptions occur for an aggregate period of 24 hours or more within a one-month billing cycle.
The bill states that “ISPs and public telecommunications entities concerned shall not require the customer to take any action in order to receive a refund credit or bill adjustment.”
The measure, which aims to benefit both postpaid and prepaid subscribers, aims to amend Republic Act (RA) No. 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act enacted 28 years ago.
Telecom firms and ISPs found by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to have violated the bill’s provisions will be fined between P200,000 and P2 million.
For violators whose gross annual income is P10 million and below, the penalty shall be equivalent to 1 percent to 2 percent of their gross annual income.
Repeated violations are penalized under the bill with the revocation of the PTE’s provisional authority or certificate of public convenience and necessity, or the cancellation of the registration of the ISP, whichever applies, “including the waiver of pre-termination fees of affected subscribers and the timely disbursement of any remaining credits from excessive downtime.”
A similar measure has been filed in the Senate.
