Ed Angara: A Lawmaker for All Seasons
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Edgardo J. Angara, first elected in 1987, is the longest serving Senator in the post-EDSA Senate and it is easy to know the reason why: Filipino voters simply appreciate his work as a lawmaker.
The legislative work of this gentleman from Aurora consists of mainstream laws that have made a difference in the lives of others, especially the poor and underprivileged.
These include:
- The Free High School Act that ensured secondary education even for the poorest students;
- The Senior Citizens Act (or The Angara Law) that allowed the elderly to avail of substantial discounts when buying medicine
or availing of public transport;
- The National Health Insurance Act, or PHILHEALTH, that provided insurance to every citizen; and
- The Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), the country's biggest scholarship program in private schools.
Under his Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA), farmers and fisher folk benefited from the improved seeds and plant materials, better irrigation, better financing, and better market access. As Secretary of Agriculture (1991-2001), he had the rare opportunity to implement his own legislative creation.
Senator Angara also sponsored laws that resulted in the creation of the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education And Skills Development Authority, both of which allowed the Department of Education to focus on its main concern - revitalized education.
It was also he who authored the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers and was the principal author of the laws that created the new National Museum, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and Natatanging Manlilikha Awards.
Reelection Platform
Senator Angara, President of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, said his political party joined the administration's Team Unity for this year's mid-term elections on the understanding that the coalition would focus state resources on education, health, infrastructure, agricultural modernization, job creation, and environmental protection.
Based on the laws mentioned above, Senator Angara seeks to improve the power and reach of the laws he authored on education, health and agriculture modernization.
His concern with infrastructure is primarily related to better market access for agriculture products and for ordinary working citizens to reach their places of work faster and cheaper.
Job creation is closely related, among other things, to the successful implementation of the laws he authored on education, health and agriculture modernization, thus preventing the traumas of the Filipino diaspora.
His concern with environmental protection is based on his long-held concern about the deterioration of the global environment due to the work of man. He often stressed this point when he was Secretary of Agriculture.
His concern has been validated by the recent report of the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations body composed of earth scientists from 140 countries, including the Philippines.
The scientists for the first time stated "with 90 percent certainty" that human activity was responsible for a continuing rise in average global temperature that no other explanation would be plausible.
In the 1990s, the same panel was more cautious: global warming "may be caused" more by human activity rather than nature.
"It was said in the past that while the evidence of serious human impact on the earth's climate change is strong enough to to meet the legal test of liability in a civil suit, it fell short of the stricter 'beyond a reasonable doubt' test of guilt in a criminal case," Senator Angara stated like the top lawyer he is.
Now all that has changed and Senator Angara seeks to be among the legislative leaders to actively craft laws to help the Philippines fight global warming in concert with the rest of the world.
Corruption Watchdog
Senator Angara added that the coalition would adhere to good governance and a stepped-up effort to combat corruption, which was also in accordance with the LDP program of government.
Senator Angara is Charter President of the Southeast Asia Parliamentarians Against Corruption (SEAPAC) which was established in Manila in December 2005, a regional chapter of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC).
This organization is devoted to bringing together parliamentarians, leaders and members of civil society from the Southeast Asia region to combat corruption, promote transparency, accountability and good governance.
SEAPAC works closely with corruption watchdog Transparency International which is very much alarmed with the level of corruption in Southeast Asia. In its 2006 Corruption Perception Index, Transparency International tagged the Philippines as the second most corrupt country in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.
In its National Integrity System Study of the Philippines released last February 1, Transparency International found that despite a flurry of anti-corruption activities in the country, the problem of corruption remains prevalent in the Philippines.
A Lawmaker For All Seasons
Mainstream legislation on education, health, senior citizens, agriculture modernization, and culture; serious concern with infrastructure, job creation and corruption; and an early bird on the onset of global warming makes Angara a lawmaker in tune with, even ahead of, the times.
"My legislative work is designed to give every Filipino a fighting chance," Senator Angara explains. Or, to quote his campaign slogan, to make every Filipino realize "Ang gara ng buhay" (life is good and beautiful).
Truly, he is the lawmaker for all seasons that appreciative Filipino voters will continue looking for.
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