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Tuesday, )ul-Y2,2019 '

14TH-M
'MEGA cE
BYlovEE |ABIE N. DELA CRUZ reformsenacted duringthe 1 7th Congress: and promore rheir welfarel'
t @joveematie theTax Reform for Acceleration and lnclu The Senate leadertold the Bu,r\L5sM PFo"
& BurcH FER\ANDEz sion {TRAIN) law and the RiceTariffication . thata House counterpart billmandating the
t @b.utchJBM Law 14th-month benefit issetto beJiled byReps.
The members ofthe i sth HoR alsoflle+ Precious Hipolito and KitBelmonte in order

I AWMAKERS started filing their pet a divorce bill and another allowing medi- to fan-track sjmultaneous passage of the
I bills on Mondav,'began,
as the term of The cal marjjuana. 14th month-pay bill in the two chambers.
L r 8,h conqr"r, with Senate ln filing the enabling bill to be tack- "We recognize the indispensable need
President Vicente Sotto lll listing mea- led soon as lawmakers tonvene the first to provide our Filipino laborers, both from
sures he will personally push, including a regular session ofthe lSth Congress on the public and private seclors, additional
law mandating the grant of 14th-month July 22, Sotto invoked Article ll. Section 14th-month payl'Sotto said, noting that
pay to workers. 18 ofthe Constitution, which specifically "every now and then, various laborgroups

ln the House ofRepresentatives, among 'provides that'the State affirms labor as a have been petitioning for the increase in
thefirst bills filed werethose increasing the primary social economic force"and man- minimum wagel
dating itto "protect the rights oiworkers SEE "t 41ll-MoNTtt PAY," 412
minimum waqg bill and repeallng two key-

l4th.month pay. . . coNrrNuEDlRoMA1

tllat"wages have
lvlore0ver, 50t10 observed to get salary increase foll6wing pay hikes for
invisibly decreased due to the ri5e in pri(es 0f s0tdiers and p0lic€rnen. The Angara bill adjusts
basic commodities." the (urrent Salary Grade (5G) 11 0f entry level
(iling rep0rts that "impr0ved busi- . teachers t0 5G 19. Al present an 5G 11 teacher
ness eanings have not cascaded on its ownl gets P19,077 monthly salary, which the Angara
the senate leader, likewise, noted that the birl will in(rea5p to P16,409.
w0rke6' 13th-rn onth pay is usually'90bbled up
byChristmas expense5.' Mega Cebu
"We need extra earnings in the middle 0f the lN the H0u5e. the filst ldwmaker who filed bills
yea rt0 help in scho0l a nd medical expense5;"5ott0 is t€bu Rep RauldelMar He pitched House Bill

stressed, adding: "Health aod eduGtion need5 11 forthe creation ofa Mega (ebu Developrnent

ofthe 0rdinary Filipino must be assisted by 0ur Auth0ritt HB 12t0 strengthen the rights0f citizens
govenment." . to infomati0n held by the g0vernment 0r the
5otlo, meanwhile, started lining up prl0r!ty bilh freedbm 0f iniormalion (l0l) bill, HB 1J t0 all0w
t0 be tackled by the 24 member cha mber as soon as the use 0f motorcycles as public-utility vehide

Congress convenes regular sessi0n 0n luly 22 and HB 14 t0 provide for Light Raillransport 0r
Among the lht of pri0rity bills expected to be [4etro Rail Transport in (ebu.
refe(ed for Senate committee heaIing5 before The bill allowing the use 0f motol(y(les as

these are submitied f0r plenary considerati0n 0ffsh00t0fhearings conducted in both

PiJV5 is an

and approval dre the pr0posed Antl-Terrorism chambers0f the 1 /th(0ngress.tackling Lhe rise in
Act,thePublic5erviceA( t,the F0reign lnvestmeni usage ofmotorcycle-haililg apps as c0mmutels

A(t, ltledical Scholarrhip and I owerirg theAge of in congested urban centers seek (le ative ways lo :
(riminall iabililt among other bill5 that need t0 travel despite heavy traffi (. Regulators, inv0king
be refiled afterfailingto ge1 lilalapprovalin the what sen. Grace Poe had once des(ribed as
previous Congress. anachronisti( laws, had bairned outright the
5otto aho listed other bills txpected to be m0torcycle-hailing system, exemplified by the
{r0ntlodded fo'plenary delibelati0n dnd floo' popular'Angkas,' bul relented t0 publi( clamor
v0te atter getting commiltee endot5ements: and allowed atrialperiod pending passage 0f dn

the proposed i\.4edical 5cholabhip Act, Anli-Drug amending leqislation.

Penal {nslitution, Presidential Druq Fnfo'(ement
Auth0rity and the Danqer0us Drugs C0urt bill.
Al50inthesenato/sprioritylistarethe proposed
Sll\4 Card Registration Act, Anti-Fake New5 Acl,
lnqiasinq the Penalty ior Perjury, Prevention of
Terrorism Actand the Hybrid Election Ad.
Teacher( pay hike
Albay Rep. td(el Lagman, meanwh'le, i5
pushingfortheploposed Human RightsDefende15
Protecti0n Act or HB 15. House Bill 1 upt0 House
8ill10 are allotted t0the bills thatwillbefiled by
the next speaker.
An0ther mea5ure flled on the first day of the
lsthC0ngressisonelegalizingmedicalmarijuana.
The billwasflled byBep. Antoni0 Alban0, brother

AL50 dxpected for early consideration i5 a 0J former (ongressman and now Gov. Rodito ,
separate billfiled by sen. Juan Edgardo Angara Albano, who wa5 the prin(ipal auth0r 0fthe
I
bill
in(leasing t\e sala'ies 0f public-school tearhets. during the 17lh (0ngress.The medical marijLana .l
-seen t0 fulfillthe President's pledge to 800,000 bill wa5approleo0nlnildardfrndl
'eadingby " PAqJ - P"
publicsch00l teachdrs that "it will be their turn the H0use, butthe Senate failedto applovr