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Politics

SENATE APPROVES OFW LEGAL ASSISTANCE FUND BILL – VILLANUEVA

With 21 affirmative votes, no negative votes and no abstention, the Senate approved on third and final reading a measure expanding the use of a fund meant for the legal assistance of more than 10 million Filipinos working abroad. Through LeAF, the government can extend legal assistance to distressed Filipinos working abroad through Philippine embassies […]

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Government

ISSUANCES ABOVEBOARD, NO ‘ABUSE OF POWER,’ — MASONGSONG

National Electrification Administration (NEA) Administrator Edgardo Masongsong has refuted claims by a supposed consumer group that he had abused his authority when he issued memoranda increasing the salaries and retirement benefits of general managers (GMs) of electric cooperatives (ECs), stressing the issuances were all aboveboard and that the accusations were part of a “malicious scheme” […]

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Politics

CRAFT RESILIENCE PLAN VS CORONAVIRUS, MULTINATIONAL PLANTS SHUTDOWN– ANGARA

Government was told to urgently craft a “resilience plan” that will allow the economy “to deftly evade” the brunt of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the shutdown of plants and back offices of Honda, Wells Fargo and other multinationals in the country. The call was made by Senator Sonny Angara as the Senate finance committee […]

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Politics

GORDON TO TAAL EVACUEES: FOSTER SPIRIT OF VOLUNTEERISM

Senator Dick Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), led the distribution of relief goods for evacuees in Ibaan, Batangas who were affected by the eruption of the Taal Volcano in January. As he spoke with the evacuees, Gordon shared his experiences during the devastating eruption of Mt. Pinatubo that happened in June 1991 […]

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Politics

NATIONAL EVALUATION POLICY NEEDED FOR EVIDENCE-BASED BUDGETING – MARCOS, GATCHALIAN

Lawmakers called for a national evaluation policy that will ensure evidence-based budgeting for all government programs and the accountability of civil servants. “Clearly there has been limited attention, budgetary support, provision of personnel for monitoring and evaluation and only lip service has been given all these years to M&E (monitoring and evaluation),” Senator Imee Marcos, […]

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Politics

PASS A LAW BANNING SINGLE-USE PLASTICS — ABANTE

House Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr. lauded the national government for “leading by example” after the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) issued a resolution banning the use of single-use plastics in all government offices, saying on Tuesday that the move highlighted the need to pass a law to permanently prohibit the manufacture, importation, sale, […]

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Politics

PREVENTIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM NEEDED TO CURB ONLINE SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN – GATCHALIAN

At the conclusion of the National Awareness Week for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, Senator Win Gatchalian underscored the need for a comprehensive “Human Trafficking Preventive Education Program” to stop the online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC). Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, said this proposed […]

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Government

ELECTRIC COOPS MUST HAVE ANTI-COVID-19 MEASURES IN PLACE FOR PUBLIC EVENTS — NEA

LAGUINDINGAN, Misamis Oriental—The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has advised all electric cooperatives (ECs) to strictly observe all precautionary measures against the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in organizing public gatherings, such as its Annual General Membership Assembly (AGMA).  NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong issued the statement during a consultative meeting between the NEA Board of Administrators (BOA) and […]

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Politics

PH NEEDS TO BE PREPARED FOR CYBER WARFARE – GORDON

Senator Dick Gordon underscored the need for the country to have its own cyber experts and stressed that the government should create plans on countering possible malicious cyber-attacks in the future. During a session at the Senate recently, Gordon stated that the Philippines lacks preparations and plans in terms of cyber warfare and that the […]

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Politics

INCLUDE GMRC IN SCHOOL CURRICULUM – ZUBIRI

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri pressed for the immediate inclusion of Good Manners and Right Conduct into the curriculum of public and private schools as the Senate passed on third and final reading Senate Bill No. 1224. “Most recently we witnessed how teenagers badly injured a balloon vendor by setting fire a bunch of […]