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Politics

CREATE INDEPENDENT DENGVAXIA COMMISSION – CASTELO

Administration stalwart Quezon City Rep. Winston “Winnie” Castelo urged President Rodrigo Duterte to create an independent commission to conduct a unified and in-depth investigation into the Dengvaxia dengue vaccine controversy, stressing the need for a collaborative, coordinated, and comprehensive plan of action to address the numerous issues unearthed by the parallel inquiries into the Dengvaxia […]

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Politics

A HOME FOR EACH AND EVERY FILIPINO FAMILY – CASTELO

“No Filipino should ever be called a squatter in his own country. No matter how they may be referred to as informal settlers, the fact remains that they are ‘homeless’ in a way. A world-class country cannot consist of homeless citizens.” This according to Rep. Winston “Winnie” Castelo, chairman of the House Committee on Metro […]

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Politics

LOCAL ENTITIES HAVE CAPABILITY TO CARRY OUT LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS – FERNANDO

Deliberations at the House of Representatives on the possible anti-competitiveness of current construction laws continued as the Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Rep. Arthur Yap (3rd District, Bohol) discussed the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program and foreign participation in the country’s construction industry. “The Philippine Competition Commission has presented a study that showed that […]

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NEW COMPUTERS, FAST WIFI, IN ALL SUCs – CASTELO

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) should urgently and properly use the allocation in the 2018 budget worth P10 million each for the modernization of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). This is to ensure the success of R.A. 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act,” Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo said. The […]

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Politics

INVESTIGATE PASSPORT APPOINTMENT SLOTS FOR SALE – CASTELO

Quezon City Rep. Winnie Castelo called on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to look into reports that some travel agencies are selling January appointment slots for as high as PhP4,000. The DFA has come under heavy fire from Filipinos renewing their passports because of difficulties getting appointment through the agency’s online facilities. The DFA’s […]

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Politics

NO MORE UNSOLICITED CALLS AND SPAM TEXT MESSAGES – HOUSE

The House Committee on Information and Communications Technology, chaired by Rep. Victor Yap (2nd District, Tarlac) has approved a substitute bill, seeking the establishment of a “No Calls and No Text Registration” System to protect phone subscribers from solicited calls and spam text messages. Under the proposed measure, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) shall have […]

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Politics

MANDATORY SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR TRUCK DRIVERS PUSHED – VILLARICA

Rep. Cesar Sarmiento (Lone District, Catanduanes), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, has approved the creation of a technical working group (TWG) to fine tune and further deliberate on a measure seeking to require driver’s education for professional truck drivers as a means to promote road safety. The TWG is tasked to incorporate and […]

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Politics

CONVERSION OF IRRIGATED AND IRRIGABLE LANDS FOR NON-AGRI PURPOSES TO BE OUTLAWED – HOUSE

The House Committee on Agrarian Reform chaired by Rep. Rene Relampagos (1st District, Bohol) has approved a substitute bill seeking to prohibit the conversion of irrigated and irrigable lands for non-agricultural purposes. The measure seeks to address threats to food security in the country by amending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 (CARP) or […]

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Politics

EMERGENCY AND RESILIENCY FUND FOR ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES – HOUSE

The House committee on appropriations approved a substitute bill which seeks to institutionalize the “Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund” for use in the disaster prevention, management, and mitigation measures of electric cooperatives and for rehabilitation of their infrastructures damaged by force majeure or fortuitous events. The unnumbered bill endorsed by the committee on energy […]

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Politics

Increase in Base Pay for Uniformed Personnel of DND, DILG, PCG, and NAMRIA – HOUSE

Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) in the government are a step closer to enjoying an increase in their base pay after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved on third and final reading House Joint Resolution 18. The resolution is authored by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (1st District, Davao del Norte), Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas (1st […]