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Politics

VILLANUEVA: COVID VAXXING NOW AN EMPLOYMENT ISSUE

Senator Joel Villanueva called for the vaccination of all workers either by their employers or the government as the COVID-19 pandemic changed the dynamics of employment altogether. “We should focus not only on jobs, but also on jabs,” Villanueva said. “But first, we should face our problems and deal with them squarely.” The veteran legislator spoke […]

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GIVE PRIVATE SCHOOLS TAX RELIEF – VILLANUEVA

Clarifying an otherwise ambiguous provision in the country’s tax code on private educational institutions will serve as a lifeline for thousands of schools forced to shutter or reduce operations at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Senator Joel Villanueva. In sponsoring Senate Bill No. 2407, Villanueva said the measure sought to ease the […]

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VILLANUEVA TO PRC: STOP POSTPONING BOARD EXAMS

Senator Joel Villanueva took to task the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) for failing to administer more than 80 licensure exams because it was “stuck in the past.” The PRC has become a dinosaur because of its failure for 20 years to follow the mandate of the PRC Modernization Act that required the profession licensing agency […]

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MAKE 2022 NAT’L BUDGET GENERATE JOBS — VILLANUEVA

With the pandemic still battering the country’s employment numbers, Senator Joel Villanueva called on the government to “wring out as many jobs as possible” from the next year’s P5.02 trillion national budget. “We should be creating more jobs out of the buck. This budget should be a job generator,” Villanueva stressed. The veteran legislator said […]

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VILLANUEVA: SEND SRA ‘BUDGET ERRATA’ TO CONGRESS

If government really intends to extend the grant of Special Risk Allowance (SRA) and COVID-19 Active Duty Hazard Pay (AHDP) to health workers next year, it should send to Congress a “budget errata” specifying the required amounts that will have to be included in the 2022 national budget, Senator Joel Villanueva said. “Kung seryoso po […]

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VILLANUEVA TO PAGCOR: NAME 15 DELINQUENT POGOS

Senator Joel Villanueva said he sees no reason why the Commission of Audit (COA) or the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) should withhold the names of the 15 Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) who owe the government some P1.365 billion in unpaid license fees. Villanueva said the government should not allow these 15 POGOs […]

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SENATE MEDAL OF EXCELLENCE RECIPIENTS LAUDED

Senator Joel Villanueva extolled the first recipients of the Philippine Senate Medal of Excellence awards as heroes who shone light on the country in a time of pandemic gloom — Olympians Hidilyn Diaz, Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial and Carlo Paalam. Villanueva hailed the Filipino Olympians for “their solid performances in the Tokyo Olympics embodied the […]

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PASS SEAFARERS MAGNA CARTA NOW – VILLANUEVA

For helping keep the economy afloat with their P1 billion a day remittance, Filipino seafarers deserve a “lifeboat of rights and privileges,” Senator Joel Villanueva said in sponsoring the proposed “Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers” bill. Decades since the Philippines became a “shipping manning superpower”, Villanueva said it is time “to put aboard one vessel […]

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DIGITAL INFRA NOT P15B DEPED MODULE COST URGED

The “sariling sikap” production of learning modules by public schools will cost at least P15.1 billion next year, one of the biggest items in the Department of Education’s proposed P629.8 billion obligation budget for 2022, Senator Joel Villanueva said. “To compare, the budget for new classrooms is about P2.92 billion. For new chairs and desks, […]

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VILLANUEVA TO GOV’T: DIALOGUE WITH HEALTH WORKERS

Senator Joel Villanueva has urged the government to promptly hold a top-level dialogue with the health workers’ groups in recognition of their services as frontliners in saving lives in these critical times. “Our healthcare workers are already overworked and exposed to COVID-19 infection. They deserve better treatment and they need not go on walkouts or […]