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Politics

VILLAFUERTE TO CONGRESS: HELP FIGHT CYBERCRIMES

Camarines Sur Representative LRay Villafuerte is urging the Congress to act swiftly on a measure passed by a House committee that is meant to add more teeth to the efforts of regulatory agencies to combat cybercrimes by penalizing social engineering schemes, commonly known as “phishing,”  that lead to illegal financial activities.  Villafuerte said the committee-approved consolidated […]

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Politics

BILL RAISING STATUTORY RAPE AGE GETS BICAM OK

The Senate and the House of Representatives had its bicameral conference committee meeting on Senate Bill No. 2332 and House Bill No. 7836, amending the Revised Penal Code to raise the age for determining statutory rape. From the previous twelve years old, the bill now revises it to be below sixteen years of age. “No […]

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Government

DENR BACKS TAMARAW CONSERVATION BILL IN CONGRESS

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu has expressed his strong support for a bill seeking to conserve the critically endangered Tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis). Cimatu issued the statement following calls for the passage of House Bill (HB) 8299 or the proposed Tamaraw Conservation Management Act in response to the pressing need to […]

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Politics

VILLAFUERTE TO CONGRESS: OK E-GOVERNANCE BILL NOW

Owing to the emergence of more transmissible COVID-19 variants that could necessitate more lockdowns, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte said Congress could help the national government fast-track its digital transformation by approving the e-governance law, which will facilitate contactless transactions and ensure the uninterrupted delivery of basic services.  Villafuerte noted that his proposed e-governance law, […]

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Politics

SENATE URGED TO OK BILL ON PRIVATE SCHOOL TAX RATE

Camarines Sur Representative LRay Villafuerte is urging the Senate to act quickly to rescue  private schools  by passing before the adjournment of this congressional session on September 30 a bill that would permanently correct the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)’s flawed interpretation of a tax code provision increasing the corporate income  tax (CIT) rate on […]

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Politics

CONGRESS URGED TO OK BILLS FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS

With sufficient funding for all additional benefits of healthcare workers apparently still an uncertainty, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte said that the long-term solution to guarantee such extra remuneration for  medical frontliners is for Congress to pass new legislation providing them with hazard pay plus substantial increases in the current rates of their overtime pay and […]

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Politics

BIGGER SHARE FOR FEEDING PROGRAM IN 2022 URGED

A group of educators has called on Congress to raise the funding for the country’s feeding program. This, as the funding for the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) had been slashed by around 2.7 billion compared to this year’s allocation in the proposed 2022 budget of the Department of Education. Abante expressed bemusement at the decrease […]

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Politics

VILLAFUERTE: OK HAZARD PAY FOR HEALTH WORKERS

Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte is calling on Congress to fast-track the approval of two legislative measures that aim to provide health workers with hazard pay plus substantial increases in the current rates of their overtime pay and other benefits.  Villafuerte said these proposals, which he authored, will prevent a repeat of the  current unrest […]

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Politics

VILLAFUERTE TO CONGRESS: HASTEN PH DIGITAL SWITCH

Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has made a final push in this third and last session of the 18th Congress for a troika of initiatives to further accelerate the Philippines’ digital switch that would help the Philippines keep up with the expected strong rebound of many of its regional neighbors from the Covid-driven economic malaise.  These digitalization […]

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Politics

ABANTE TO CONGRESS: FAST-TRACK PASSAGE OF CADB

With President Rodrigo Duterte having previously stated his support for a Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Bill (CADB), Deputy Speaker and Manila 6th District Rep. Benny Abante Jr. on Monday urged his colleagues in both chambers of Congress to pass the measure, which the solon said would help prevent discrimination in all its forms and protect sectors that […]