EdAngara.com - The Official Website of Senator Edgardo J. Angara

As the 15th Congress winds to a close, graduating Senator Edgardo J. Angara ends his term with a rousing "valedictory" speech, thanking everyone who took part in his projects and initiatives in his 24 years in the Senate.

I entered the Senate during an era far different from this one I am leaving after 23 years.

In 1987, I joined a legislature charged to help restore democracy after years of authoritarianism and rebuild a nation beset with decline and corruption.

Rampant poverty, crime and economic stagnation hounded the country, making these the foremost challenges a renascent Congress had to address head on.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara urged for closer ties between Southeast Asian countries, like the Philippines, and South Asian countries like India and Pakistan during his keynote speech at the 5th Regional Conference of the South and Southeast Asian Association for the Study of Culture and Religion (SSEASR).

No less than the largest umbrella organization of private schools in the country has unanimously endorsed the creation of a legacy fund for education proposed by Senator Edgardo J. Angara.

During a testimonial dinner held for Angara recently, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) vowed to rally behind the proposal, as they have done for many of the reforms in education initiated by the senator.

Photo 1:

A testimonial dinner, hosted by the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) was held Monday night to honor Senator Edgardo J. Angara's lifelong commitment to education.

Photo 2:

Members of COCOPEA welcome Senator Edgardo J. Angara to their testimonial dinner held earlier this week in Makati.

L-R: Dr. Jose Paulo E. Campos, COCOPEA Chair and PAPSCU President; Dr. Patricia Bustos-Lagunda, PACU President; Fr. Gregorio L. Bañaga Jr., CM, CEAP President, Senator Edgardo J. Angara and Col. Alejandro T. Escaño, TEVSAPHIL President.

In the light of the tragic death of UP Manila student Kristel Tejada, Senator Edgardo J. Angara called on government to tap establish a legacy fund for education out of the revenues derived from the exploitation of the country’s natural resources.

Angara explained that such legacy fund is a more durable and sustainable way of financing the country’s education needs compared to leaving it wholly up to annual Congressional appropriations.

“I call this a legacy fund because legacy means securing the future, and the future is our children,” he said.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara called on the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to impose a moratorium on field trips in light of a bus accident in Tuba, Benguet which has since claimed the lives of several students and faculty members from Marinduque State College (MSC).

The 31 tourism students and two teachers from MSC, including two tour guides, were on the Baguio leg of a three-day Manila-Ilocos-Baguio educational tour, when their bus driver lost control and collided with two other vehicles.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara underscored the responsibility of all law practitioners to provide legal services to the poor in the country during his speech at the groundbreaking of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines' (IBP) new tower in Ortigas, Pasig City.

During a recent public hearing of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Senator Edgardo J. Angara underscored the need for more highly-qualified new teachers especially in Mathematics and Science as the K to 12 curriculum will be implemented throughout the country.

“We are encouraging the creation of scholarships for science and math teachers to teach in primary and secondary levels throughout the country—but of course, the heart of the matter here is financing,” he explained.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara reiterated the need for curriculum reform in the Philippines, pushing for the passage of the measure institutionalizing the extended 12-year Basic Education Curriculum.