Drilon: Liberalized PHL legal profession needed for ASEAN integration

MANILA-Senate President Franklin M. Drilon today underscored the need to liberalize the Philippine legal profession to permit foreign lawyers to practice in the country, and help Filipino law practitioners to keep pace with the market and policy shifts as a result of the ASEAN integration. 

At the ASEAN Law Association Assembly last February 27, Drilon told justices, judges, and other leading law practitioners in the ASEAN region that the ASEAN integration poses a challenge to members of the legal profession. 

"As the integration calls for a free exchange of resources, we must ask ourselves: what does integration mean to the legal profession? What is its impact to the practice of law? In this era of integration, the ASEAN lawyer must learn to navigate multiple legal jurisdictions," Drilon said. 

"At current growth rates, it is predicted that the ASEAN would become the fourth-largest market, after the EU, U.S. and China, by 2030. However, full ASEAN integration poses a challenge to every ASEAN member country. The existing legal framework may not be sufficient for the region to achieve a completely free exchange of goods and services," Drilon said. 

He underscored that a stronger and more efficient legal apparatus will help the Philippines capitalize on all the economic and development opportunities provided by the ASEAN integration. 

"Currently, in the Philippines the practice of law is currently restricted only to Filipino lawyers. This proposal for liberalization allows for collaborative work between Filipino and foreign lawyers where the matter or transaction involves both domestic and foreign law," he explained. 

He said it is time to establish a procedure in which foreign lawyers and firms may be able to assist their clients in cross border transactions where the Philippines is involved. 

"The liberalization of law practice will help strengthen the country's legal profession, and will help the country face the many challenges in the political and business sector being created due to the ASEAN Integration starting this year," stressed Drilon. 

He however, said that the proposed liberalization of law practice must ensure that foreign lawyers will live up to the standards and principles of lawyering in the Philippines, a practice that requires loyalty to the rule of law, and fidelity to the cause of the client. 

The Senate leader then said that he hopes that the country's legal sector and policy makers will realize early the importance of adapting and liberalizing the country's  legal profession, and hoped that it will be a leader among ASEAN members in reforming and improving its practice of law. 

"While the practice of law in the ASEAN region may be a challenge, the liberalization of the legal profession will ultimately benefit the region as a whole. The long-term effect of a legal profession that recognizes no territorial boundaries goes into the success of the ASEAN integration itself." Drilon said. 

Senate to pass DICT bill

MANILA-The chair of the Senate science and technology panel said a consolidated version of five bills creating a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will be reported out for floor debates before Holy Week.

“Our timetable in the Senate is to pass it before it ends its second session year in June,” Recto, who is also the Senate President Pro Tempore, said.

“Insofar as the Senate is concerned, it will pass the DICT bill,” Recto said.

He believes the measure will also hurdle the House as the “leadership of both chambers, led by the Speaker and the Senate President, in several meetings, has deemed it a priority measure.”

“The marching order given to me by the leadership is to consolidate in the Senate the five bills – authored by Sens. Antonio Trillanes, Teofisto Guingona III, Loren Legarda, JV Ejercito, Sonny Angara – into one,” Recto said.

Recto described the DICT bill “as one of those ‘Groundhog Day’ measures, that predictably goes through the legislative wringer every Congress only to stall in the final round for lack of one final push.”

In the last Congress, both chambers passed the measure, but failed to convene the bicameral conference committee which would have reconciled the differences of the versions they had passed.

To prevent this from happening again, Recto said the Senate will finetune one area of the bill which has prompted “tepid support” from the executive – and that is to ensure that the proposed department’s organization will be lean.

“It will not create a huge bureaucracy, or burn a deep hole in the taxpayer’s pocket. It will be revenue-neutral, and will maintain, if not lessen, the present operating cost of the agencies which will be folded into it,” Recto said.

“For example, we’re trying to limit the undersecretaries and assistant secretaries. In the creation of regional offices, we won’t be making it mandatory. Why have a large physical office when one of its mandates is to promote e-governance?” Recto said.

Recto said senators recognize information and communications technology as the third utility, after power and water.

“It is also the third biggest source of dollars after electronics and OFW remittances. It is a growth driver. Every 10 percentage points in broadband penetration is said to boost the GDP by 1 percent,” he said.

On the public sector side, Recto said a government which spends P2.5 trillion a year “needs a DICT to get more bang out of the buck, and prevent bribe from being squeezed out of the peso.” 

“We are now living in the electronic republic, where views of the sovereign are advocated online, and services must be rendered to them on the same platform,” he said.

“Permits, licenses, land titles should now be electronically-applied for, processed and issued. Let us leave to the MRT the exclusive franchise of organizing long lines,” Recto said. 

Legarda Urges A United Front Against Climate Change

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda today urged governments of the world to build a united front against climate change and has asked the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) to join the cause.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, made the call during a discussion with ICAPP Chairman Jose De Venecia, Jr., who said that he will convene the ICAPP to join a global alliance to fight climate change and its impacts.

“ICAPP Chairman De Venecia has readily agreed to our call for all governments of the world to join the global action versus climate change and they will also urge the Council of African Political Parties (CAPP) and other global political parties to join,” she said.

Legarda said that this is in line with the joint Philippines-France statement, Manila Call to Action on Climate Change, which engages “the international community, all stakeholders and world opinion, on the urgency of addressing climate change seriously, efficiently, and equitably.”

The call to action, which was read by Legarda and French actress Marion Cotillard, was launched in Malacañang yesterday as a highlight of French President Francois Hollande’s state visit to the Philippines.

The Senator noted Hollande’s statement, “The Manila appeal is for the world to be more fair between developed countries and fragile ones, between wealthy countries and poor ones, between generations as well, those who had all their time to extract resources from the planet and who now have a duty to act so their children, their grandchildren as well can live.”

Legarda recalled that in 2008, The Manila Call for Action of Parliamentarians on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation was adopted by parliamentarians from the Philippines, Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Uganda and the East African Legislative Assembly.

The 2008 call for action was a result of the consultative meeting for global parliamentarians, which Legarda convened as UN Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific.

“We launched the 2008 Manila Call for Action with the goal of creating an enabling environment for promoting disaster risk reduction, to mainstream it into socioeconomic development, and make it a national and international priority. Yesterday, the Philippines-France Manila Call to Action stressed the need to act now to address climate change and its impacts. Then and now, our call has always been: collective action towards sustainability and resilience,” said Legarda.

May 2 must be ‘National No Brownout Day’

MANILA-Energy officials better ensure that May 2 is “National No Brownout Day” as any outage anywhere will turn them into “punching bags” by people who would be deprived of watching on TV the mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.

Sen. Ralph Recto said the executive branch should use the emergency powers it is asking and which Congress is poised to grant to prevent blackouts this summer, when electricity use is at its peak, “especially on May 2.”

“The effectiveness of the emergency powers will be tested on May 2,” Recto said.  

“I think one promissory note we should be asking from the Department of Energy (DOE) is that there will be adequate supply of electricity on the day of the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout,” he said.

"If the people won't be able to cheer Manny because power is out, they will jeer the government," Recto said.

“You have the powers, you will have hundreds of millions of pesos, you have the time, so please see to it that there will be no brownout not only on May 2 but throughout summer,” Recto said.          

Malacanang has invoked a section in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) in asking Congress for emergency powers to contract additional capacity to avert an impending power crunch.

Section 71 of EPIRA states that “upon the determination by the President of the Philippines of an imminent shortage of the supply of electricity, Congress may authorize, through a joint resolution, the establishment of additional generating capacity under such terms and conditions as it may approve.”

Billed as the fight with the richest purse in history, the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout is on May 2 in Las Vegas, USA.

International parliamentarians convene in Manila for human rights meet

MANILA-More than 100 parliamentarians, representatives of human rights institutes, and members of civil society groups from all over the Asia Pacific region will convene in Manila tomorrow, February 26, to discuss ways to increase regional involvement to the protection and promotion of human rights.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr. will address the foreign delegates from at least 20 countries who will troop to the two-day seminar’s seven sessions, to be held from February 26 to 27, 2015 at the Diamond Hotel, Manila City.

Drilon said that the Senate of the Philippines and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), will host the regional seminar for Asia Pacific parliaments entitled, "Translating international human rights commitments into national realities: The contributions of parliaments to the work of United Nations Human Rights Council."

Drilon, who once served as President of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, will serve as the Lead Convenor of the international conference, while Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, is Conference Chair. Senator Loren Legarda, former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima will also join the seminar as resource persons.

"We welcome the chance to host this human rights event. The country still faces a lot of long-standing issues on protecting human rights amid social strife and security concerns. We will learn a lot from the seminar, and hopefully, they will translate into sound policies and programs here and across the region," Drilon, who is currently a member of the IPU Executive Committee, said.

The Senate President further said that the seminar seeks to enhance awareness among members of parliaments of the existence of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) and its Universal Periodic Review (UPR), and the need for their full legislative involvement in the HRC's work.

"The seminar is also looking to foster greater involvement of members of parliament in the three different reporting stages of the UPR," Drilon added.

He noted that a recent IPU survey revealed that many parliaments around the globe are not yet familiar with the HRC's duties, as well as the importance of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) as an instrument in ensuring that human rights are protected and promoted.

Pimentel, for his part, said that apart from inter-body cooperation, the seminar will also look at how parliaments in the region have promoted human rights at their respective national levels and how they can bring this down to local government councils.

"The event will also seek to foster better cooperation at the national level between parliaments, local government councils and other human rights stakeholders, in particular national human rights institutions and civil society actors. The attendees also intend to formulate practical steps on how the HRC can better engage parliaments and human rights institutions on their actual programs," Pimentel said.

"The world, especially this region, is still confronted with many challenges and issues concerning human rights, and it is our duty as parliamentarians to identify the most pressing problems in our own backyards, and lead the way in providing relevant and effective solutions," Pimentel said.

The Manila seminar is part of a series of regional events designed to enhance the contribution of parliaments to the HRC and the UPR, in response to panel discussions of the IPU, HRC and the OHCHR begun last May 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland which recognized the critical role of parliaments in ensuring domestic respect for human rights. Previous conferences have been held in Romania, Uruguay and Morocco. 

Legarda Urges Gov’t to Shift to Low-Carbon Economy

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda urged the government to consider a long-term transition to a low-carbon economy, noting that investments in clean energy and low-carbon infrastructure will determine the future of our nation and the future generations.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, stressed that the idea of a low-carbon economy may seem ideal at first but if we look at the worsening effects of conventional energy sources such as fossil fuels to our health and environment, it should not be hard to understand the need to adopt the said concept.

Citing a study from the World Health Organization, Legarda said air pollution has caused seven million premature deaths worldwide in 2012. Moreover, she stressed that the traffic congestion in Metro Manila alone is costing us an equivalent of four percent of our GDP.

“We can start with building our cities in a smart way. Better connected, more compact cities based on mass public transport are economically more dynamic, safer and healthier, and have lower emissions,” Legarda said, citing the study, Better Growth, Better Climate: New Climate Economy Report.

She added, “The concept of road-sharing among pedestrians, cyclists and motorists should be adopted. The Bayanihan sa Daan movement we are supporting promotes a paradigm shift from the motor vehicle-based transportation system to a multi-modal system, wherein people are not dependent on their own motorized vehicles every time they go out, instead, they can choose different modes of transportation depending on their needs—walking or biking for short distances, and safe, reliable, inexpensive and convenient public transportation system for long distance trips”.

As a concrete strategy, Legarda said our government must encourage investments on renewable energy and ensure the sustainable use and management of our land and other natural resources as studies reveal that restoring 12% of the world’s degraded lands can already feed another 200 million people, raise farmers’ incomes by US$40 billion a year, and also cut emissions from deforestation.

Legarda is the author of the National Land Use Bill which seeks to provide a unified legal framework that will ensure a rational, holistic and just allocation, use and management of the country’s land resources.

Last week, the Philippine Senate, the British Embassy and the Chevening Alumni Foundation organized a roundtable discussion on the topic, “Is low carbon economy our future?”

The highlight of the forum was a presentation by Mr. Matt Nottingham of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office about key findings of the study, Better Growth, Better Climate: New Climate Economy Report, which stresses the idea that there should be no tension between economic development and a low carbon economy. In fact, this paradigm shift could be the very answer to achieving high-quality, resilient and inclusive economic growth.

Recto : BBL has many shades of gray

MANILA-Sen. Ralph Recto said proposed changes to the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) are not meant “to mangle the bill but mend it” so the final version will be acceptable to the “country, the citizenry and the Constitution.”

“When we propose revisions, it is out of the desire to improve the bill and not to impair,” Recto said. 

The Senate President ProTempore said there are “many shades of gray” in the BBL. “In legislation, it must be black-and-white so there will be no room for multiple interpretations.” 

“If the law is vague, then conflicts will arise during implementation, the resolution of which may be left for the courts to settle,” Recto said.  

“Ayaw naman natin ng isang batas na puputaktihin ng mga kaso sa korte o namumuro ng TROs,” Recto said. 

Another reason why Congress should improve the law, Recto explained, “is to increase its chances of being approved by the people in the plebiscite to be called for its ratification.”

“Parang kotse ‘yan, kung may factory defect, ayusin na kaagad bago ibenta.  Kasi kung sa papalapit na sa plebisito nabisto ‘yan, di ka na pwede mag-issue ng recall, at sasabihin mo na time-out muna, postpone natin botohan kasi aayusin pa namin,” Recto said.

And should the Senate tinker with the BBL, the outcome, Recto said, “will still follow the general outline of the blueprint. Kotse pa rin, hindi bangka, ang kalalabasan. O kung ang BBL ay pantalon, ganun pa rin ang kalalabasan, hindi mini-skirt.”

Recto said Moro groups pushing for the BBL should welcome initiatives to improve the measure.  

“First thing they should do is to drop the ‘we-are-infallible’ stance. If you don’t want to change even a single sentence in the bill, then that policy of extremism won’t bring you anywhere. You must be open to other ideas.”

“Otherwise, your bill will be dead-on-arrival in either of the chambers of Congress,” he added.

Recto said some proposed changes are recalibrations the Bangsamoro can live with.

“Kailangan ba talaga 60 members ang Bangsamoro parliament? Bakit hindi i-trim down to 40, and let the savings be used to fund health? After all, the region needs more doctors, not lawmakers,” Recto said. 

“Why is there a need for the Bangsamoro to create, appoint its own Commission on Audit (COA)? Dapat isa lang ang COA, isa lang ang rules, for all government expenditures,” Recto said.

“Sa usapin ng intergovernmental relations, why the need for a superbody called the Philippine Congress-Bangsamoro Parliament Forum that will harmonize legislation affecting the region?  Does this mean any bill affecting the region will have to be cleared with this superbody?” Recto said.

Of the “many shades of gray” of the BBL, what needs to be cured of its ambivalence is the powers of the Bangsamoro Police, Recto said.  “Its authority should be sharply defined.” 

Recto said there are calls to raise the bar for non-contiguous barangays and towns who may want to join the Bangsamoro.  

“Kailangan ba 10 percent lang pwede ng umanib doon? Kung halimbawa isang barangay iyan sa Davao City, paano ang administration nila?”

Recto also raised the need to clarify the BBL’s “affirmative action and appointment quota provisions.” 

“Mandatory doon na dapat isa from Bangsamoro ang uupo sa Supreme Court. Pwede ba tayong mag-appoint on the sole yardstick of ethnographic representation? What if other groups would want the same?”

Another “contentious” issue, Recto said, is in the area of “financing the peace.”

“The BBL is basically an appropriations bill. It creates financial obligations in the tens of billions of pesos. It binds the national government, and ultimately taxpayers, to allocate large sums of money every year,” Recto said.

“On the first year alone of the Bangsamoro establishment, the projected minimum cost is P75 billion,” Recto said, citing official estimates on the fiscal impact of the creation of the Moro sub-state in Mindanao. 

A big chunk of this is in the form of a “block grant, “ which in 2016, according to testimonies of government officials, will be around P27 billion, Recto explained.

“Kailangan bang ang block grant is automatically appropriated?” Recto said. 

JINGGOY CITES ‘SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS’ VIOLATION IN PDAF PROBE

MANILA-“HAS [SEN. ESTRADA] BEEN FUNDAMENTALLY DEPRIVED OF HIS OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD BEFORE BEING DETAINED?”

 

Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada raised this overarching question before the Supreme Court as the paramount issue behind the filing of a motion for reconsideration.

 

In a 24-page motion, Sen. Estrada’s camp questioned the January 21 decision of the Supreme Court which merely focused on the procedural prescription instead of the more important substantive aspect of the due process of law.

 

Jinggoy insisted that he was never given ample opportunity by the Ombudsman to be heard, as he was not given copies of the documents, much more the chance to answer and refute the allegations, which were used as bases to indict him before the Sandiganbayan.

 

At least 2 SC magistrates in their separate opinions stated that there was grave violation on the part of the Ombudsman for failing to observe due process during its preliminary investigation on the case.

 

It can be recalled that the SC earlier denied Estrada’s petition to nullify the Ombudsman order finding probable cause against him and the subsequent proceedings thereof as it cited rules which do not require the Ombudsman and the investigating officer from furnishing copies of counter-affidavits of other respondents of the case. (Ombudsman maintained that they are only required to furnish Estrada copies of the affidavits of the complainants.)

 

“The constitutional protection of due process is not at all limited to what the Rules on preliminary investigations provide nor to the interpretation of said Rules by the Honorable Court,” part of the petition read.

 

Estrada’s counsel further emphasized that “the right to due process is constitutional and cannot be limited to what the rules and statutes provide.”

 

Defense lawyers maintained that Estrada’s case is different from the previous cases relied on and cited in the court decision as the present case involves prosecution for plunder which is a non-bailable offense and instantly deprives one of his liberty.

 

Moreover, Estrada’s camp submitted that the issue of due process should not be defined in terms of purposes of preliminary investigation as its rules apply generally to cases which do not call for immediate incarceration.

 

“In determining the requirements of due process for plunder, the issue should be defined in terms of the purposes of the ‘due process’ clause of the Constitution, including the substantive aspect of the phrase which ‘embeds the social value of fairness…’ With regard to the substantive value of ‘fairness,’ or ‘the sporting idea of fair play,’ which is the central idea of the due process clause, this should be the method used to determine what process is due,” the motion stressed.

“Simula na ng election season in 25 weeks, bakit pa papalitan si PNoy?”

MANILA-The prospective 2016 election calendar of activities may just douse the calls for President Aquino to leave office as the official countdown to the day the nation will choose his replacement is just around the corner, Sen. Ralph Recto said today.  

Recto said if the timetable issued by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the May 2010 polls will be the same template for the May 9, 2016 general elections, “then election is in the air.” 

“For example, the last day for filing petitions for registration of political parties will be around August 20, which is about 26 weeks away,” Recto said.

“The holding of a party convention that would select its presidential candidate could start on October 21, which is 34 Sundays from now,” he said.  

And if the timetable used in the last presidential elections will guide the next, “then on November 20, a wannabe can already file his certificate of candidacy,” Recto said.

“So by December, we’ll be hearing more campaign jingles than ‘Jingle Bells,’” Recto said.

“So kung malapit na ang halalan, hindi na praktikal siguro ang panawagan na pababain ang nakaupo,” he said.

But proximity of the elections aside, Recto said “calls for the President’s resignation will not get traction.” 

“If there’s a clamor, it is not for him to step down, but to step up the delivery of projects and programs he had started, so these can be completed before he leaves office.”  

Another proof that the “election train has left the station” is that Congress had appropriated close to P17 billion as Comelec’s budget for this year, Recto said.

Of this, about “P12. 6 billion is earmarked for preparatory activities for the 2016 general elections,” Recto explained.

“Ganun kalaki. This is the price we have to pay for having a system which calls for elections every 1,000 days,” he said.

PHL to host international parliamentarian meet on human rights

MANILA-The Philippines will host an assembly of more than 100 parliamentarians, representatives of human rights institutes, and members of civil society groups from all over the Asia-Pacific region next week to discuss ways to increase regional involvement to the protection and promotion of human rights.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said that the Senate of the Philippines and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), will host the two-day regional seminar for Asia Pacific parliaments entitled, “Translating international human rights commitments into national realities: The contributions of parliaments to the work of United Nations Human Rights Council.”

89 representatives from at least 20 countries have confirmed to attend the two-day seminar which consists of seven sessions, to be held on February 26 to 27, 2015 at the Diamond Hotel, Manila City.

Drilon, who once served as President of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, will serve as the Lead Convenor of the international conference, while Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, is Conference Chair. Other Filipino lawmakers and officials expected to join as resource persons are Senator Loren Legarda and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

“We welcome the chance to host this human rights event. The country still faces a lot of long-standing issues on protecting human rights amid social strife and security concerns. We will learn a lot from the seminar, and hopefully, they will translate into sound policies and programs here and across the region,” Drilon, who is currently a member of the IPU Executive Committee, said.

The Senate President further said that the seminar seeks to enhance awareness among members of parliaments of the existence of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) and its Universal Periodic Review (UPR), and the need for their full legislative involvement in the HRC’s work.

“The seminar is also looking to foster greater involvement of members of parliament in the three different reporting stages of the UPR,” Drilon added.

He noted that a recent IPU survey revealed that many parliaments around the globe are not yet familiar with the HRC’s duties, as well as the importance of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) as an instrument in ensuring that human rights are protected and promoted.

Pimentel, for his part, said that apart from inter-body cooperation, the seminar will also look at how parliaments in the region have promoted human rights at their respective national levels and how they can bring this down to local government councils.

“The event will also seek to foster better cooperation at the national level between parliaments, local government councils and other human rights stakeholders, in particular national human rights institutions and civil society actors. The attendees also intend to formulate practical steps on how the HRC can better engage parliaments and human rights institutions on their actual programs,” Pimentel said.

“The world, especially this region, is still confronted with many challenges and issues concerning human rights, and it is our duty as parliamentarians to identify the most pressing problems in our own backyards, and lead the way in providing relevant and effective solutions,” Pimentel said.

The Manila seminar is part of a series of regional events designed to enhance the contribution of parliaments to the HRC and the UPR, in response to panel discussions of the IPU, HRC and the OHCHR begun last May 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland which recognized the critical role of parliaments in ensuring domestic respect for human rights. Previous conferences have been held in Romania, Uruguay and Morocco.

Parts of Pampanga to experience nine-hour power interruption on Friday

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga -- Parts of Pampanga will experience up to nine hours of power interruption on Friday, February 20.

 

“Customers of PELCO I in certain areas of Mexico, Arayat, Candaba, San Luis, and Sta. Ana will have outage from 8:00AM to 5:00PM,” National Grid Corporation of the Philippines Central Luzon Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Officer Ernest Lorenz Vidal said.

 

“Reason of outage is to accommodate PELCO I’s request to facilitate annual preventive maintenance at Plaza Luman, Arayat Substation. Normal operations will immediately resume after work completion,” Vidal added. (Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu)

Senate, Philhealth partner to widen access to health services

MANILA-In order to assist Filipinos seeking help for medical services, the Senate has recently inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) to create its off-site office in the Senate.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said that under the agreement, the Senate will continue helping Filipinos, particularly the poor and the elderly population, get access to medical care through the establishment of a new Philhealth satellite office right inside the Senate compound in Pasay City.

“The Memorandum of Agreement between the Senate and Philhealth is part of our effort to provide our people, especially those who are less fortunate, with much needed health services and information,” he said.

“This partnership with the Philhealth will enhance our efforts to help our kababayans avail of government services, and as well as heighten their awareness of the National Health Insurance Program,” added Drilon.

Drilon underscored the need for more off-site Philhealth offices in view of the implementation of the mandatory Philhealth coverage for all senior citizens.

He said that with the Senate’s tie up with the Philhealth, the institution can already respond to common concerns of both the members and non-members, most especially the poor and the senior citizens, concerning their membership standing, status of claim refund, and other problematic cases.

“The Republic Act 10645 or the mandatory Philhealth coverage for senior citizens, which we passed last year, can be effectively implemented through the establishment of these satellite offices where the senior citizens and the members and non-members of Philhealth can make inquiries, file complaints and process their claim,” said Drilon.

“We are very happy that the Senate did not only pass the RA 10645, but it has also offered an avenue to make the law’s implementation more effective through the establishment of a Philhealth off-site office at the Senate,” said Drilon.

Under the agreement, which was signed last February 13, the Senate, through its Public Assistance Center (PAC), will serve as the venue for Philhealth off-site office to provide frontline services such as membership verification and status of claim refund.

The Senate will provide personnel that will assist walk-in clients with Philhealth concerns, and with close coordination with Philhealth’s Corporate Action Center, the Senate can act on their concerns.

The senator explained that the upper chamber has a long history of reaching out and helping Filipinos with their medical necessities, through the Senate Public Assistance Center (PAC): “The Senate PAC was the primary contact of the senators to the indigent citizens of this country. I am proud to say with the PAC, we have served and aided countless people in need of medical care assistance who came to the Senate looking for help.”