Published March 5, 2021, 2:52 PM
Two opposition senators are seeking passage of a bill calling for the least displacement of informal settler families (ISFs) through on-site, in-city and near-city resettlement strategies by mandating local government units (LGUs) to provide basic services and livelihood programs in resettlement sites.
Senators Risa Hontiveros and Leila de Lima (MANILA BULLETIN)
This way, Senators Risa Hontiveros and Leila de Lima said the urban poor would have more rights to participate in urban development instead of their dwellings being subjected to demolition or them being imperiled because of unwanted eviction.
“Recent events, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, have highlighted the fundamental importance of adequate housing and people’s participation in cities and other urban areas, and ultimately, the right to the city,” the senators said in the explanatory note of Senate Bill No. 2609 or the proposed “Least Displacement of Informal Settler Families
Press Release
De Lima receives love letters from supporters, allies
Different organizations and personalities continue to send letters and messages of hope for Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima to convey their solidarity and love for her as she recently marked her fourth year in unjust detention last Feb. 24. To date, around 150 messages in the form of video and handwritten letters were already received by the Free Leila de Lima Movement (FLM), which initiated the project. FLM and the Senator s Official Facebook pages started releasing some of the letters and videos online, last Feb. 15.
Among the most notable are handwritten letters from members of Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Pamilyang Pantawid (SNPP) and e-mailed messages from a student of Ramon Magsaysay High School and former Senators Rene Saguisag and Kit Tatad.
A resolution seeking to allow detained Senator Leila de Lima to participate in Senate hearings and plenary sessions through teleconferencing and other forms of remote or electronic communications has been filed again in the Senate.
Four senators file a resolution seeking to allow detained Senator Leila de Lima, who marks her fourth year in jail today, to attend the chamber’s plenary sessions and committee hearings virtually.
Expand UP-DND Accord safeguards to other state universities: Pangilinan
FOLLOWING the unilateral termination of the University of the Philippines-Department of National Defense (UP-DND) Accord that regulates police and military presence in UP campuses, Senator Francis Kiko Pangilinan has filed two bills seeking to include Accord safeguards in the 2008 UP Charter as well as expand them to all state universities and colleges (SUC) nationwide.
At the same time, in his sponsorship speech of amended proposed Senate Resolution 616, Pangilinan on Tuesday welcomed DND s decision to answer the various calls for dialogue with UP on the termination of the 1989 UP-DND Accord.
Aside from Pangilinan, co-authors of the resolution include Senators Risa Hontiveros, Nancy Binay, Ralph Recto, Leila De Lima, Franklin Drilon, and Joel Villanueva. Senator Richard Gordon also expressed support for Pangilinan s resolution.