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

Senator Edgardo J. Angara called on the government to strengthen its efforts towards developing renewable energy initiatives during his keynote speech at the German-Philippine Policy Dialogue on Renewable Energy last week.

“After languishing in Congress for 15 years, the Renewable Energy Act was signed in 2008. However, after four years we are still lacking in enforcement and implementation,” said Angara, who authored the law.

SENATOR ANGARA (SEJA): Galing lang ako sa Baler at in-announce ko sa mga kababayan ko sa Baler na hindi na ako magpapatuloy tumkabo sa pagka-gobernador.

I vote “YES” to enacting the RH bill into law. It’s an affirmation of our basic human rights, especially the rights of women, and the right to reproductive health.

At the moment, we have to respond to the challenges that threaten our country:

1,000 women continue to die yearly during pregnancy and childbirth;
about 150,000 children are born from teenage mothers every year;
women who cannot support their children put them into orphanages or labor work;
we have almost 2 million orphans from 0 to 17 years of age, and about 4 million child laborers ages 5 to 17;

Senator Edgardo J. Angara sought to strengthen the country’s capacity to conduct research and development (R&D) in health under the sin tax measure passed by the Senate on Tuesday.

In his amendments, which were accepted by the chamber, Angara urged that the additional revenues be used to fund R&D projects into such key fields as aging, regenerative medicine, and the production of drugs from indigenous sources among others.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara underscored the need to make the sin tax bill equitable by setting aside a credit fund that will benefit affected stakeholders, particularly tobacco farmers.

Angara's proposal to create the credit fund was included in the final measure passed by the Senate on third and final reading on Tuesday.

The veteran lawmaker said the credit fund must be accessible to all eligible farmers from tobacco-growing provinces, and must provide low-cost loans.

During a recent Senate hearing for the 2013 budget of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), Senator Edgardo J. Angara urged Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. to improve on the dismal 2010 overseas voters turnout.

Angara, Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, noted that P1.313 billion was spent on overseas voting last 2010, when only 152,323 Filipino overseas voted out of the 589,813 registered, resulting in a scant 26 percent turnout.

During debates on SBN 3312, which seeks to amend the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 (RA 9189), Senator Edgardo J. Angara emphasized that overseas voters should be able to use postal mail, fax, email and other secure online means in casting their ballots for Philippine elections.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today stressed that any excise tax resulting from deliberations on the sin tax bill should be equitable and take into consideration the interests of all the affected stakeholders.

On TRO filed by SC

You know the purpose of a TRO is to enable the court to study the merits. Since the law will become effective unless they do that, they have to issue a stop order. I’m not disappointed. I welcome the pause that this TRO creates because it will give time to the SC to study the merits and give also the critics time to reexamine their position because I think that they’re just contemplating on a few provisions of the law that they think are harmful to them. But overall, I think the purpose of the law is given to expand their right to use online communication. And you must read the law, Cybercrime Prevention Act together with the Data Privacy Act because the Data Privacy Act is the one that positively protects the confidentiality and security of one’s personal communication.

What the Cybercrime Prevention Act does is only to regulate socially destructive acts because you cannot enjoy your right fully and confidently if others have an equal right to interfere with your right. That’s the balancing act that you’ve got to do because this is a new frontier. This is an area that is unregulated but if you read both the Data Privacy and the Cybercrime, you will come to the conclusion that, in fact, it expands the right of the user and protects the communication that he or she transmits.

Ang sinasabi ng batas, kung iyan ay libel under the revised penal code, libel din yan dito sa cybercrime. May definition yan under the revised penal code, malinaw ang mga elemento ng libel.

Q: Is the Phil gov't capable of running after these cybercriminals?

SEJA: Maaaring walang enough jails, enough policemen, enough fiscal power, enough judges to prosecute all of these offenders but that is no argument why we should not have a law like this. Kung ganoon ang argument, eh di wag na tayong magkaroon ng criminal laws.