Posts published during September, 2009
Our friends at Brownman Revival are helping us promote the Panata 2010 campaign to encourage the youth, not only to register for the 2010 elections, but to actively participate in the elections and in the campaign the change the course of how our country is governed.
We went to one of their gigs last Thursday at 70′s Bistro to shoot some footage for a campaign video we are making for Panata 2010. Last week, we were able to shoot support footage from Kamikazee.
I attended a committee hearing yesterday with soaked socks and squishy shoes. It was raining hard and I, unfortunately, stepped on a deep puddle while walking towards the Ramon Mitra Building in the Batasan complex.
I spent the rest of the morning till some hours after lunch at the hearing of the Committee on Higher and Technical Education. They were able to pass a couple of local bills, but the controversial Magna Carta of Students was remanded back to a technical working group because of the vehement objections of A TEACHER Rep. Piamonte and Valenzuela Rep. Gunigundo, who were obviously championing the rights of school owners and administrators. Their lines go, “We cannot grant students’ rights at the expense of the rights of school owners and administrators.”
“Schools have a right to exclusively determine fee increases, students or parents can just appeal to proper authority.”
“School-student relationship is contractual. Academic freedom includes the right of the school to determine how to best attain their objectives.”
“We cannot put private schools and state universities in the same situation. Government cannot compel private schools to give students same rights as those who are in state universities.”
Late yesterday afternoon, we also decided to rearrange, for the fourth time I think, the few tables and chairs we have at our Batasan office. Here are some snapshots of our “make-shift” office, which is a compartment in a large room that used to be the office of the Congress security force. The room is now divided among a handful of newly-seated partylists. One of these days I’ll take a picture of our neighboring partylists’ offices. Walang laman. I don’t know kung hindi ba sila nagta-trabaho at sumusweldo lang nang walang ginagawa. Fine, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, baka sa ibang lugar nag-oopisina.
This is the second bill we filed since Kabataan took its rightful seat in the House of Representatives. It’s a comprehensive measure that seeks to guarantee free and appropriate basic education to all Filipino children and youths with special needs, granted the severe shortage of public special education (SPED) facilities in the country and the lack of support from the government.
Based on the principle that children and youth with special needs have the right to participate and contribute to society, this bill seeks to ensure the equality of special children’s access to social services and self-improvement opportunities, their full participation in decisions concerning their welfare, and the possibility of their economic self-sufficiency.
Below is a brochure I prepared for the bill. Click here for the full text of the bill, H.B. 6771.
This is one of the first two bills which we filed in Congress since Kabataan was granted its seat a few months ago. It’s a bill which aims to strengthen and modernize existing public libraries in the country and to step up the efforts of establishing public libraries in all cities and municipalities in the Philippines, as well as reading centers in all barangays. Read the text of the bill, H.B. 6770, here. Below are jpeg copies of the brochure I prepared about the bill, click on the images for the larger version.
Kabataan Party-list Representative Raymond “Mong” Palatino today disapproves of the approval by the House of Representatives in the committee level of a measure imposing a five-centavo excise tax on every text message, saying that the “no pass-on provision” is no assurance that consumers will not shoulder the additional burden.
“Despite statements from the authors of the bill and House Speaker Propspero Nograles that the “text tax’” should not add to the burdens of the tax paying public, these do not guarantee that consumers will not shoulder this additional burden.”
Palatino said that the present deregulated telecommunications industry makes it virtually impossible for the government to impose the “no pass-on” provision. “The government is simply powerless to stop telcos from imposing new fees to consumers in light of the implementation of this new text tax,” he said.
Yesterday, I attended the meeting of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Constitutional Amendments on the proposed Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) to change the 1987 Philippine Constitution. (Read my spot report on the Aug. 26 meeting here)
The Committee amended the proposed measure calling for Con-Con by postponing the elections for the convention’s delegates from May 2010 (to coincide with the national elections), to October 2010 (which may coincide with the barangay elections). The exact date stipulated for the holding of the Con-Con elections is October 25, 2010. One representative who used to oppose Con-Con now approves of it because of this amendment. She claims it now clears the doubts on the political maneuverings that may happen in the Con-Con elections because it will be held after the term of Pres. Arroyo.
I think, however, it’s just a way for the Arroyo administration to reassure themselves that they have another elections to maneuver, in the likely chance that they lose the national elections on May. The Con-Con elections will be vulnerable, then, to the political manipulation of those who will lose the May 2010 national elections.
I spent almost the entire day last Sunday sleeping. Due to several unexpected circumstances, I was barely able to sleep the day before.
I started my Saturday early, reading through some materials for a bill I was drafting for Kabataan Partylist. Spent the afternoon at Kabab Korner along Matalino St. with Airah, my co-officer in the legislative staff. It was the first time I spent the afternoon at the place, and it turned out to be a pretty decent experience as there was barely anyone else around and there was free wifi access. I was able to finish the first draft of the bill by the end of the afternoon. The bill, by the way, is a magna carta of sorts for workers in the Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) industry, who are mostly call center agents. Hopefully, we will be able to file it within this week, or the next. Read the privilege speech of Rep. Mong Palatino on the plight of call center agents and other BPO workers, for more information.
This weekend also marked the start of the bar exam season. Last Saturday night I went to Manila to pass by the bar operations (bar ops) of my fraternity and of UP Law. I was supposed to leave by midnight, but I ended up doing some legwork the entire night till that morning. Stationed at the Century Park hotel, every hour or so, I was running up and down, in an around the hotel getting tips from sources and slipping copies of the tips under the door of our barristers’ rooms. I didn’t expect myself to be doing this after three years in the frat, but all’s well in frat work. In between, I was able to lounge at one of the rooms we were able to reserve. Also one of my consolations was that I was able to get one of the breakfast buffet stubs which I abused Sunday morning before retiring and going home.
BATASAN STUFF
A couple of nights ago, Rep. Mong Palatino took me to the congressmen’s lounge beside session hall, to sample some of the food. It is exclusive to members of the House but I think they’re allowed to bring one or two of their staff or family once in a while. It was free, limitless, hotel-like food for congressmen every session day. Apparently, Mong said he hasn’t seen any same dish served twice for the entire month. No wonder many of the congressmen get fat in Congress, literally, and figuratively too. That night, it was Chinese-themed food. I don’t think Congress has a concept of simple living, which is a shame in a poor country like the Philippines. Iba talaga when one has the “power of the purse.”
Speaking of Congress’ “power of the purse,” I briefly attended the first hearing of Congress for the government’s P 1.541 trillion budget for next year. The hearing was very well-attended by the congressmen, their staff and employees of the Budget and the Finance departments. I could barely find a comfortable place, not even to sit, but to stand. It’s that packed. Iba talaga pag pera na ang pag-uusapan.
TAMBAY SA OSPITAL
A few days ago, some of my fraternity batchmates and I brought another batchmate of ours to the hospital due to his chronic seizures because of his multiple sclerosis. He had five attacks that day, and the UP Health Service urged us to move him to a bigger health facility because all they could provide were valium shots. It was the first time I saw someone having a serious seizure, and it was quite scary. Since his parents were in the province and his relatives couldn’t come as soon as possible, we stayed at the hospital the rest of the afternoon, some of us till later that evening.
MEETING BOY ABUNDA
In between staying at the hospital, I went to a meeting with some ABS-CBN staff together with Boy Abunda, to talk about his new political talk show. I don’t know why I’m part of it. I got a call a few days earlier inviting me to join in, and well, I agreed. Though I’m having second thoughts now. True, I may be opinionated, I write and I blog, but I don’t do a lot of talking, really. Details to follow, as I don’t think I’m at liberty to disclose any more information about it.
CLEARING OUT OF U.P.
I’m currently processing my papers for my honorable dismissal from UP Law. I passed by Malcolm Hall yesterday, after not being there for weeks now. It didn’t feel nice being in a place you were forced to leave all of a sudden. Unfortunately, I’ll have to keep coming back the next few days to finish the process, get a transcript and other papers to be able to take tests in other law schools.
The House of Representatives staff of Kabataan Party, of which I am part of, started a group Twitter and Plurk account a few days ago. Since we attend committee hearings left and right, attend plenary sessions and other Congress functions, too, we might as well give you a blow by blow account of the happenings in Congress, from the interesting and sometimes scandalous sound bites of congressmen (which may not see the light of day in mainstream TV), to random and mundane twits about various quirks with House procedures and our rants on Congress red tape, among other things. The entire Batasan complex is wifi-enabled after all. Add us up, we are Kabataan Crew!
law student, leftist, national democratic, film school graduate, photography hobbyist