IKOT.PH
Senator Joel Villanueva said funds for the two special pay allowances for medical front liners should be “rolled over” in next year’s national budget. Villanueva is however proposing a bigger 2022 allocation for the Special Risk Allowance (SRA) and the COVID-19 Active Hazard Duty Pay (AHDP) so that health workers may receive bigger amounts of […]
The fund intended for helping Filipinos overseas, including over 10 million overseas Filipinos, in the 2022 national budget should be augmented to reflect how the government values the welfare of overseas Filipinos, Senator Joel Villanueva said. According to the National Expenditure Program for next year released by the DBM recently, Villanueva said the Assistance to […]
The Senate is rushing legislation that will put a “mantle of protection” on some 1.5 million freelancers and gig economy workers whose numbers ballooned during the pandemic. Senator Joel Villanueva, the labor committee chair who is spearheading the codification of their rights, said freelancers are the most vulnerable from abuse and exploitation. Part of the […]
Senator Joel Villanueva called for an inventory of skills of thousands of overseas Filipinos being repatriated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, urging the government to match the available talent with the existing demand of the labor market. Touted as the largest repatriation of Filipinos since the Gulf war in the 1990s, Villanueva said it was […]
The health department should identify and address its procurement and supply chain chokepoints that seem to be the subject of the latest COA findings of “deficiencies” in the management of some P67 billion in COVID-19 funds in 2020, Senator Joel Villanueva said. “Ang COA report po ay parang MRI scan ng paggamit ng pondo. Itong […]
One of the urgent mandates of the proposed Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos (DMWOF) is the establishment of a “global 911” system, which Filipinos in need of help abroad can access “anytime, anywhere,” Senator Joel Villanueva said. “A 24/7 global emergency helpline for distressed Filipinos abroad that would do more than just offer […]
Senator Joel Villanueva has appealed to the government to utilize the P19-billion DOLE-managed employment assistance fund to finance the additional manpower to expand its contact tracing efforts as COVID cases steadily rise. Villanueva said the “Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged o Displaced Workers” or TUPAD program can be used to deploy a “Delta Force” that […]
Senator Joel Villanueva joined calls for the Upper Chamber to investigate allegations of public funds financing “troll” farms which were reportedly established to sow misinformation in time for the coming elections in 2022. “Organized trolls are weapons of mass distraction. The seeds of falsehood they plant ripen into hate ready to be harvested by those […]
The country’s professional licensure system should remain, despite the struggles of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to hold these certification tests the past year due to the pandemic because such assessments boost the credibility of Filipino professionals here and around the world, Senator Joel Villanueva said. “Despite our disappointment with how the PRC has been […]
Senator Joel Villanueva is urging closer collaboration among agencies involved in education so that the government “will have a stronger and unified approach in addressing an education crisis worsened by the pandemic”. As tests and studies reveal the deterioration of the quality of graduates across levels, Villanueva said the Department of Education, Commission on Higher […]