Most of Senator Loren Legarda's filed measures zeroed in on the edification of the country’s education and livelihood system, one of her main advocacies.
Fulfilling one of her pledges during the campaign period last May, Senator Loren Legarda wasted no time forwarding her advocacies for sustainable development and economic empowerment in the Senate today (July 4).
Legarda, who has served in the Senate for 18 years prior, immediately filed ten proposed legislative measures in the 19th Congress, the first among the 24 Senators to do so.
“We just filed the first batch of our priority bills today, which are mostly zeroed in on the edification of the country’s education and livelihood system. We prioritized these measures as we believe they are very timely and that we must act on them immediately to address the pressing needs of our society,” she said.
First among her priorities is the "One Tablet, One Student Act," which she had earlier filed at the House of Representatives in the 18th Congress.
The bill seeks to provide each public elementary, secondary, and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) student with a tablet computer to enable them to participate in online learning effectively.
Legarda also filed three separate bills pushing for a revised "Magna Carta" for public and private school teachers, as well as upgrading the current minimum salaries for public school teachers and non-teaching personnel.
Other measures she filed include a bill seeking for a Magna Carta for barangay health workers; a bill seeking to amend the Public Employment Service Office Act of 1999 and establishing the Barangay Employment and Entrepreneurship Service Office (BEESO); a bill to institutionalize the livelihood programs of different government agencies for MSMEs under one umbrella program; a bill seeking to provide adequate safeguards to further protect the rights and interests of OFWs with respect to their foreign exchange remittances; and a bill creating a Department of Technical Education Training and Certification to replace the current Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
In the field of environmental protection, Legarda also filed a bill to institutionalize a Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS) to reflect environmental inputs and outputs in determining national income accounts.
“Once the session resumes, we will work on these measures until they are adopted in the Senate. We hope that through these proposed bills, we would be able to bring development to the lives of our countrymen and help alleviate poverty in our country,” the Senator said.
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