Month: August 2016

Bam seeks to help graduates secure jobs through Trabaho Centers

A senator has filed a measure establishing Trabaho Centers in Senior High Schools all over the country, in a bid to bridge the gap between education and employment and address job mismatch.

 Sen. Bam Aquino’s Senate Bill No. 170 or the Trabaho Center in Schools Act will help Senior High School graduates under the K to 12 program, who chose to enter employment find opportunities through a job placement office.

 The measure will amend Section 9 of Republic Act No. 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 that implements the K to 12, to include Trabaho Centers under its scope.

 “While we work on equipping our graduates with the adequate skills to join the workforce, let us also bridge that gap between education and employment through the Trabaho Centers,” said Sen. Bam.

 According to Sen. Bam, the Trabaho Center will focus on three main things – career counseling services, employment facilitation and industry matching.

 “Career counseling services shall be offered to help guide the students on the tracks they choose in Senior High School while Employment Facilitation is envisioned to assist the needs of a job seeker or the senior high school student,” explained Sen. Bam.

 Through industry matching, the needs of companies will be addressed by providing them graduate listings and resume profiling of students.

 The Public Employment Services Office (PESO) and TESDA will join forces to create a thorough database of job opportunities in the locality and immediately coordinate further training that might be needed based on particular employment opportunities.

 “Through the Trabaho Centers, the needs of our nation’s graduates, businesses in the country, and the vision of the Department of Education come together to make the most of our curriculum reform and help us move closer to shared prosperity,” said Sen. Bam.

Senate Bill No. 356: Mandatory PhilHealth for PWDs

 

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Universal Access to Quality Higher Education Act

In the Philippines, 2 out of 5 high school graduates do not pursue tertiary education, hindered by the high tuition fees in addition to miscellaneous expenses in cured while studying. After spending many years working hard to make ends meet in order to put their children through school to obtain a high school diploma, it is often a disappointment to students who face the choice between working to help their family sacrificing the education of other siblings so that one may be sent to college.

In line with the mandate of our Constitution, the State must uphold the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels. This bill seeks to make tertiary education in all State Universities and Colleges free of tuition for its students and fully subsidized by government.

Tertiary education is a valuable key that can help Filipino families break out of the poverty cycle, as families headed by tertiary degree holders earn, on average, two times as much as families who do not have postsecondary education.

However, higher education is often only available to middle-income families who can afford the high tuition fees and extra costs. As a result, these families continue to reap the benefits of obtaining a postsecondary education while poor families continue struggling to reach beyond their current economic situation.

In a nation with glaring income and educational inequality, the provision of tuition-free college education will be one great leap toward developing our fragile benefit the most and will be empowered both economically and socially to be able to fully participate in our democratic nation.

A college education is not only a qualification that results in higher paying jobs, but it is most importantly a means for the development of knowledge, innovation and social change in a nation. Supporting the growth of higher education in the Philippines will serve to heighten the quality of our workforce so that we may partake more meaningfully in the global production of knowledge.

 

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BIDA KA!: Habag, Hindi Pagpag

Mga bida, isa sa pinakamalaking problema na kinakaharap ng bansa ay kagutuman.

Sa huling ulat ng Social Weather Stations (SWS), tumaas ang bilang ng pamilyang nakaranas ng pagkagutom mula 2.6 milyon sa huling bahagi ng 2015 patungong 3.1 milyon sa unang bahagi ng kasalukuyang taon.

Ito ang dahilan sa likod ng paghahain ko ng Senate Bill No. o Zero Food Waste Act sa pagsisimula ng 17th Congress.

Dalawa ang layunin ng batas na ito — ang mawakasan ang pag-aaksaya ng pagkain at at makatulong upang bawasan ang lumalaking problema ng kagutuman sa bansa.

***

Isinusulong ng panukala na bawasan ang pag-aaksaya ng pagkain sa pamamagitan ng pagbigay ng mga supermarket, restaurant sa sobra nilang pagkain sa tinatawag na food-distribution charities o “food banks” para ipamahagi sa mahihirap na pamilyang Pilipino.

Sa kabilang dulo, ang mga tira-tirang pagkain ay ipapadala sa mga composting at waste management plant kung saan ito’y gagamiting compost.

Walang dapat ipag-alala ang mga tatanggap ng pagkain mula sa food banks dahil isang National Zero Food Waste Scheme ang isasagawa, sa pangunguna ng Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Sa programang ito, titingnan ang kalidad ng mga pagkain mula sa food manufacturers, supermarkets, restaurants, cafeterias at hotels at food banks.

Sa ilalim rin nito, magtatakda ng panuntunan sa pagkolekta, paglalagak at pamamahagi ng pagkaing ibibigay sa food banks.

Ito rin ang magsisilbing tulay sa food banks at local go­vernment units (LGUs) upang makaabot sa mga komunidad ang programa.

Magkakaroon din ng tinatawag na Self-Sufficiency Program na magbibigay sa mahihirap ng training kung paano magpatakbo ng food banks at iba pang uri ng kabuhayan upang hindi umasa sa donasyon.

***

Sa kabila ng napakagandang layunin ng panukalang ito, umani po tayo ng maraming batikos sa social media, na resulta ng pambabaluktot ng ilang tao sa nilalaman ng ating bill.

Sa kanilang mga inilalabas sa social media, pinapalitaw ng aking mga kritiko na isinusulong ko raw sa panukala ang pagpapakain sa mahihirap ng “Pag-Pag”. Nais kong linawin, hindi kailanman naging intensiyon ng Zero Food Waste Act na ipakain sa mga kapus-palad ang tira-tirang pagkain ng mga restaurant, hotel at iba pang negosyo na may kinalaman sa pagkain.

Kapag naisabatas ito, magsasama-sama ang iba’t ibang ahensiya ng pamahalaan at non-government organization (NGOs) upang tiyakin na malinis at ligtas ang pagkain na mula sa mga supermarket at restaurant at ipamimigay sa mga kapus-palad.

Sayang naman ang napakagandang progra­mang ito na ipinatutupad na sa ilang mauunlad na bansa gaya ng Japan, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia at France, kung saan ito’y itinuturing na best practice kung masisira lang ng pamumulitika, kasinungalingan at pangwawalanghiya ng ibang tao.

Mga bida, suportahan niyo ako sa labang ito upang mabawasan ang kagutuman sa bansa.

Article first published on Abante Online

Bam seeks to eradicate hunger in 10 years

In an effort to eradicate hunger in the next 10 years, Sen. Bam Aquino has submitted a measure seeking to ensure regular, permanent and unrestricted access to food and nutrition for every Filipino.

 “In this day and age of technology, economic development, and social consciousness, it is inexcusable to allow our countrymen to grow hungry,” said Sen. Bam in Senate Bill No. 712 or the Right to Adequate Food Framework Act.

 “It is our duty to enhance the welfare of our citizens and ensure that every Filipino is given regular, permanent, and unrestricted access to sufficient food and nutrition,” he added.

 Explaining his measure, Sen. Bam it will ensure that land devoted to food production shall be increased to 50 percent of all prime agricultural land in every region.

 The measure will also increase the coverage of school feeding programs, the public budget allocation for the marginalized and disadvantaged Filipinos who are unable to feed themselves, as well as research on agriculture, irrigation, and rural development.

 A Commission on the Right to Adequate Food under the Commission on Human Rights, will be established to ensure its compliance and implementation to ensure proactive and efficient implementation of plans to achieve zero-hunger in the Philippines.

 “The least we can do for our poor countrymen is to actively pursue the eradication of hunger in the Philippines. I urge my colleagues to vote for the passing of this measure,” Sen. Bam said.

 The senator also seeks to alleviate childhood malnutrition in the Philippines through a feeding program for infants, public kindergarten and elementary school children.

 “It will promote the health of children who are most in need, by providing regular and free access to nutritious food within a safe and clean school and community environment,” Sen. Bam said in Senate Bill No. 694 or the “Pagkaing Pinoy para sa Batang Pinoy” Bill.

 In a study called “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012”, conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a total of 16 million Filipinos were considered undernourished from 2010 to 2012.

 Aside from eradicating hunger, the measure will also help alleviate poverty by tapping small-scale producers as sources of 30 percent or more for the supplies for the program.

 These two measures will complement the senator’s Zero Food Waste Act (SBN 357) that called for supermarkets and restaurants to donate unserved food to the poor through food banks.

Bam eyes mandatory Philhealth coverage for PWDs

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) will be granted mandatory Philhealth coverage once the measure filed by Sen. Bam Aquino is enacted into law.
 
“This is a straightforward measure to support our disadvantaged countrymen — our persons with disabilities,” Sen. Bam said, referring to Senate Bill No.  356 or the Mandatory PhilHealth for PWDs Act.
 
“First and foremost, social services should be provided to those with the least in society. Health services should be provided to those who need it the most,” he added.
 
By providing mandatory Philhealth coverage to PWDs, Sen. Bam said the Philippines will move closer to fulfilling all the needs of underprivileged Filipinos.
 
The measure will amend Republic Act 7277 or the “Magna Carta for Persons with Disability”, to add PWDs under the mandatory Philhealth coverage.
 
In the 16th Congress, Sen. Bam tirelessly worked for the welfare of PWDs, with the passage of Republic Act 10754 that exempts PWDs from paying the value added tax (VAT).
 
The law also gives tax incentives to persons with PWD dependents tax incentives, up to fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity.
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