Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Feliciano Belmonte
Jr.
At Presentation of SDG Legislative
Agenda
November 23, 2015
Hon. Teodorico Haresco Jr., Chairperson of the
Special Committee on Millennium Development
Goals, Distinguished Colleagues, Representatives
and friends from the United Nations and civil
society groups, esteemed guests, good afternoon
to all of you.
It is my privilege to be your Keynote Speaker in
this important occasion the presentation of a
Proposed
Sustainable
Development
Goals
Legislative Agenda for the 17th Congress.
I initially thought that I had read your invitation
incorrectly because of the reference to the 17 th
Congress. We are still in the 16th Congress, I said
to myself, and we have not closed our books yet,
in a manner of speaking. Moreover, many of the
proposed measures identified in the Proposed
Sustainable
Development
Goals
Legislative
Agenda are the same priority measures that we
are working on in this 16th Congress. I am not
about to give up yet on the passage of these
measures, we are still doing our best to pass into
law many of these measures which can change
and improve the lives of our people.
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Nonetheless,
let me commend the forward
thinking of my colleague, the Honorable Ted
Haresco, for getting the ball rolling and supporting
the development of a Legislative Agenda catering
particularly to the Sustainable Development Goals
or SDGs. The advent of a new legislative agenda
that will help determine the future of sustainable
development in the Philippines is most welcome.
The Sustainable Development Goals are wide in
scope, encompassing poverty, hunger, health,
education,
institutional
development,
infrastructure, life below water and on land,
climate action, and so much more. The total
eradication of poverty, by itself, is a given goal for
any generation in any country.
Indeed, Congress will play a more significant role
in translating plans into actions and achieving
these Sustainable Development Goals. Many of
the needed interventions in support of SDGs need
to be translated into national legislation, and you
have started this work already.
Moreover, budgetary resources need to be
allocated, especially for supporting the SDGs.
Development-oriented policies should be drawn
through participatory processes, and regular
progress reports on our work on this post-2015
agenda have to be monitored and reviewed.
Definitely, the exercise of the oversight role of
Congress will be critical.
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our age.
What is now being promoted is a
different approach one which focuses on wellbeing in all its dimensions.
SDGs are important in transforming the present
model of donor-driven aid into a universally
applicable,
meaningfully
sustainable,
and
accountable agenda for all.
The realization that growth per se does not
automatically lead to improved social outcomes is
important. Formulating the right policies is and
will never be enough. Implementing these policies
successfully within ones own unique country
context is critical.
The creation of more jobs and opportunities for
people, especially in developing countries, is a key
measure of inclusive growth.
Continuing
investments in education, health, and social
protection, in the overall development of human
capital, remains essential.
Add to these concerns the challenges embodied in
SDGs that are related to the care of women,
developing sustainable sources of energy,
reducing inequality within and among countries,
addressing climate change, and promoting more
peaceful societies, and we can see that no rhetoric
will get things done.
Conducting more stakeholder consultations on
sustainable development.