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2 weeks ago | 
philstar.com | Marc Jayson Cayabyab |Neil Jayson Servallos
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate committee on basic education resumed yesterday its investigation on bullying and campus violence. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian lamented the worsening cases of school bullying, which result in violence, the latest of which was the killing of a Grade 8 student in Parañaque by her male classmate.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
philstar.com | Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Joel Villanueva is hopeful the bill seeking to extend Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)’s legislative franchise will be approved before the end of the 19th Congress. At the Kapihan sa Senado yesterday, Villanueva said he, as bill sponsor, is pushing to have the measure to extend the franchise of the country’s largest power distributor for another 25 years.
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Jan 15, 2025 | 
philstar.com | Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA, Philippines — The submersible drone found in the waters off Masbate in December came from China, according to the Philippine National Police Maritime Group (PNP-MG). During a hearing of the Senate special committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones yesterday, PNP-MG chief Jonathan Cabal confirmed that the yellow drone marked “HY-119” came from China. “It is a Chinese-made submersible drone. There is no such submersible drone in our commercial enterprises.
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Jan 15, 2025 | 
philstar.com | Helen Flores |Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos and First Lady Liza Marcos hosted a dinner for several senators and their spouses at the Bahay ng Pangulo on Monday, the same day the religious sect Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) held a “rally for peace” in Manila. Almost all senators were present at the gathering based on the photo shared by the First Lady on Facebook yesterday.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
philstar.com | Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate will prioritize the passage of four key bills, including the postponement of barangay elections to 2029, before the session adjourns, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino announced. One of the measures the Senate is set to pass on final reading is Senate Bill 2816, a proposed law setting the term of office of barangay officials and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) members, which would grant officials an extended stay in office, Tolentino said.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
philstar.com | Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA, Philippines — A resolution seeking to probe the mandated contribution rate hike of the Social Security System (SSS) will be filed by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian. Citing the Commission on Audit, Gatchalian said the SSS has yet to collect P93.747 billion in unpaid or unremitted premium contributions from employers. “The uncollected P93 billion is a sign that there is a management problem,” Gatchalian said yesterday during the Kapihan sa Senado forum.
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Dec 28, 2024 | 
philstar.com | Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA, Philippines — A bill seeking to create the country’s independent nuclear regulator is gaining traction in the Senate, after it was passed in the House of Representatives last year. Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano has sponsored the proposed Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act that seeks to create the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (PhilATOM), an independent regulatory and quasi-judicial body tasked with nuclear safety and security.
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Dec 26, 2024 | 
philstar.com | Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bong Go lauded the Department of Health (DOH) for no longer requiring senior citizens to bring their booklets to avail themselves of 20 percent discount when purchasing over-the-counter medications. Go, who chairs the Senate health and demography committee, said this means one less thing to worry about for the elderly when they buy their medications. “This is a timely move to ensure that senior citizens get their benefits under the law.
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Dec 26, 2024 | 
philstar.com | Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Loren Legarda lauded the gains of the 2003 Anti-Child Labor Law in reducing the number of Filipino children working in unsafe conditions, but acknowledged that poverty remains an issue. Legarda said she authored Republic Act 9231 or the Anti-Child Labor Law and cited its importance since it was enacted into law on Dec. 19, 2003.
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Dec 21, 2024 | 
philstar.com | Marc Jayson Cayabyab
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III is pushing for an investigation on the issuance of new polymer banknotes that feature the country’s flora and fauna, doing away with the original paper notes with images of heroes and martyrs. In an interview over dwIZ, Pimentel said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has a lot of explaining to do about its redesign of banknotes instead of focusing on curbing inflation.
