endIndex:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 7) Talks of amending the Constitution were revived in November in a meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and lawmakers on possible changes to the party-list system, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said Thursday.
Sotto said he did not want to divulge information from the “private” meeting that the President called, but he had to clarify that Duterte never mentioned the possibility of term extension.
“Ang malinaw na tinanong agad ng Presidente pag-upo, ay sinabi niya (It’s clear that the President immediately said), ‘I want this problem with the CPP-NPA solved… The best way is that we remove the party-list system or change it in the Constitution so we can call for a constituent assembly and amend that,’” Sotto said in an online interview with reporters.
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Wednesday welcomed President Duterte’s pronouncements on the deferment of the implementation of the increase in Philippine Health Insurance Corporation's (PhilHealth) contribution rates for 2021.
Charter change talks being revived in Congress
enablePagination: false
endIndex:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 6) Lawmakers have disclosed efforts to tackle constitutional amendments in both houses of Congress with a hearing scheduled by a panel in the House of Representatives, and a resolution filed in Senate.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, AKO BICOL Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., head of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, posted photos of some lawmakers meeting with the caption “gearing up for constitutional amendments.”
When asked about this, Garbin said it is House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco’s directive “to tackle proposed amendments to restrictive economic provisions.” He said a hearing will be held on January 13.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco
(Lord Allan Velasco’s Office / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Velasco expressed commitment to keep the legislative mill grinding in 2021, prioritizing legislations that would benefit majority of the Filipinos, especially the poor.
“As House Speaker, together with your duly-elected Representatives, we did our best to pass timely and relevant laws to alleviate the plight of our people during these trying times. Rest assured we will continue to do so in the coming new year,” he said in a statement.
“I also join the entire nation in hoping that an affordable, safe, and effective vaccine against COVID-19 will arrive in the Philippines at the soonest time possible. Having a safe and effective vaccine available to Filipinos is currently the best way for us to beat the virus.”
SunStar
Katarungan farmers (File photo) DHON DAGANASOL, 49, admitted that “being a farmer is difficult and even more difficult today.”
“Because of climate change, the weather is getting more unpredictable,” said Daganasol as he recalled how the 2013 Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and other succeeding typhoons leveled his farm in Carigara, Leyte.
“As 2020 is about to end, it is sad to know that the pandemic is still with us, he added, citing how the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) greatly affects the small farmers because of lockdowns.
While the government said it is doing its share to uplift the lives of the farmers, Daganasol said they have not received enough.