Loren to Noynoy, Mar: Solve Hunger Now, Not Tomorrow, Not in 5 Years

MANILA, PHILIPPINES--SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA TODAY CHALLENGED THE AQUINO-ROXAS TANDEM TO END POVERTY AND HUNGER BY INSTITUTING GENUINE AGRARIAN REFORM NOW INSTEAD OF THEIR FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR LAND DISTRIBUTION.

“The hungry must be fed now. The landless must be given arable land now. Not tomorrow, not in five year’s time. If they’re saying that they’ll give out their lands in five years time, then they have no business running for national office now,” she said.

Loren dared contender for the vice presidency Mar Roxas and his running mate Noynoy Aquino that if they really care for the poor and understand agrarian reform, the lands under their ownership should have been redistributed a long time ago in accordance with the Agrarian Reform law enacted twenty years ago.

“How can you prove that you are pro-poor if you cannot even show transparency in the Hacienda Luisita and Araneta-Roxas records? How can you take care of the poor when you don’t know what they need? These herederos didn’t have to work a day in their life. They do know how it is to rise up from poverty in Tondo or Malabon. They do not understand the value of hard work and perseverance,” she said.

Loren further called on candidates vying for national leadership to provide institutionalized, long-term reforms instead of band aid solutions.

“They should not make promises for the purpose of campaigning. People are starving. The plight of farmers continues up to this day. Farmers are killed, hurt and harassed. The landless must be given land. This is what the law says,” she said.

“Manny and I come from the working class. I have been working since I was 15 years old. Manny sold shrimps as a young boy. We know how it is to work. Those who promise change in five years are those who obviously do not understand poverty. If you wait five more years, more people will die of hunger,” said Loren, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food.

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_120_Loren_to_Noynoy.php

Loren Dares Critics: Fight on Level of Platform, Accomplishments

VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LOREN LEGARDA TODAY DARED HER CRITICS AND THOSE OF RUNNING MATE MANNY VILLAR TO RUN A CAMPAIGN BASED ON PLATFORM AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS INSTEAD OF BLACK PROPAGANDA THRU SMS, ONLINE BLOGS AND WEBSITES.

“I will defend my presidential running mate. I know Manny Villar’s politics. Ours is an advocacy to end poverty and hunger. Other candidates could be shaking in their seats and spreading negative – and mostly false – remarks about Senator Villar. I challenge them to raise the level of political debate and demonstrate their platform for governance,” she said.

Loren, the only female vice-presidential candidate in the May 2010 elections, said her campaign will focus on humanitarian relief assistance and awareness, jobs fair, feeding programs and environmental protection projects.

“My campaign will deviate from traditional political campaigning. We will run a clean campaign because we know our biggest fight is not a fight among politicians. It is a fight against poverty and hopelessness,” she said.

Loren blames poor urban governance, vulnerable livelihood, and systems decline as the main reasons for poverty and increasing suffering among Filipinos.

“This deadly trio continues to stifle national progress and makes the lives of millions of Filipinos miserable,” she said.

She vowed to promote good governance and a pro-people agenda that focuses on the well-being of urban and rural poor, OFWs, teachers and indigenous peoples. She called on government to pour resources into housing, water and sanitation, healthcare, and education and skills training for the youth.

“No Filipino should die for lack of money or from the inability of government to provide the basics of life such as food and medical care,” she said.

She further pushed for improved maternal and child health, saying that “no mother or child should die during childbirth for lack of medical attention. It is our moral duty to ensure their health and safety.”

In the area of labor and welfare, Loren called for the protection of OFWs through adequate pre-departure information and empowerment, skills training, social protection and labor rights protection in their countries of destination, safe remittance channels, and psychological support towards re-integrating with home communities.

“We should provide OFWs with viable, practical uses for their hard-earned money. We must give them concrete incentives for insurance, child education/scholarships, housing, and investment opportunities. But first we must ensure that they are able to remit their earnings through assured safe and transparent channels,” she said.

Finally, she reiterated her call to fight climate change and its devastating consequences to people’s lives and livelihood.

“Climate change must be confronted and managed, and the people most vulnerable to adverse climate change effects, disasters and natural calamities must be protected and their resilience enhanced and strengthened. We must work towards sustainable development rooted in disaster risk reduction and enabling climate change adaptation capacities that help protect the environment and our people’s well-being,” said Loren, who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change.

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_119_Loren_Dares_Critics.php

Loren: Include Text, Email in Sexual Harassment Law

MANILA, PHILIPPINES--SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA HAS CALLED FOR A BROADER SCOPE OF THE CURRENT SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAW TO INCLUDE MORE MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IN ITS MANDATE. IN A MEETING WITH WOMEN AND YOUTH GROUPS IN ILOILO THIS WEEK, SHE STRESSED THE NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL AND VIGILANT OF DAILY INTERACTIONS THAT COULD CONSTITUTE SEXUAL HARASSMENT.

The Sexual Harassment Law (RA-7877), enacted in 1995, provides a comprehensive policy and legal framework that PENALIZES perpetrators of said crime. Since its enactment, there has been unprecedented expansion in electronic and telecommunications such as cellular phones, text messaging, internet and electronic mail.

“Over half of the population are mobile phone users and at the same time have access to the internet. Although such modern forms of communication are used today as medium of work-related and personal communication, these new forms of communication can also be used to convey messages that are vulgar, sexists and derogatory; and are also used for sexual advances or to sexually harass other people. We have to penalize these acts before we eventually breed culture of complacence to vulgarity,” Legarda warned.

Legarda seeks to expand the coverage of sexual harassment to include text messages, electronic mail, online content and similar means that constitute sexual harassment.

“Our children grow up in this generation of users and subscribers to such forms of communication. They can fall prey to these harassment acts, hence our calls to enact the expansion of the current Sexual Harassment to protect our youth from such indecency,” Legarda urged.

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_116_Loren_Include_Text_Email_in_Sexual_Harassment_Law.php

Loren Defends Her Man, Lauds Villar's Vision for RP

MANILA, PHILIPPINES-- BEFORE MEMBERS OF THE MAKATI BUSINESS CLUB, SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA REAFFIRMED HER COMMITMENT TO THE COUNTRY’S TRADE, AGRICULTURE, HEALTH AND EDUCATION SECTORS, SAYING THAT THESE ADVOCACIES ARE CONSISTENT WITH RUNNING MATE MANNY VILLAR’S PLATFORM OF GOVERNANCE.

Loren said, “We both believe in the same solutions to the problems hounding our country, and we have the same commitment to poverty alleviation, improving health and education, creating more jobs, pushing for more trade and investment, and mitigating the threats of climate change.”

Loren, speaking to members of the press, lauded Villar for his speech to corporate leaders of the Makati Central Business District for the business club’s series of speeches for presidential candidates. She stressed the importance of a solid cooperation between running-mates both in the campaign and in office if elected “to deliver their programs to the people.”

She also emphasized Villar’s commitment to the business community in pushing for the reforms in the country’s trade and investment policies to strengthen the domestic economy; and to safeguard the interests of corporations and consumers.

Among Legarda’s initiatives to improve the country’s trade and commerce are her bills to institutionalize the Mindanao Economic Development Authority (MEDA), the enhancement of information technology, fortifying policies in agriculture and domestic production, the improvement of the education system to further build human capital, and REMEDIAL legislation in response to current demands and challenges.

“Our programs together offer Filipinos opportunities to improve their lives. The Philippines has a highly competent workforce, rich natural resources, and friendly policies of trade and commerce. We are all for giving Filipinos better access to these, because our programs are intended to alleviate people from poverty and improve their lives,” Legarda concluded.

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_117_Loren_Defends_Her_Man.php

Loren Helps Farmers, Fisherfolk Amidst El Nino

MANILA, PHILIPPINES--SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA, CHAIRPERSON OF SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FOOD, INSTRUCTS THE CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES ON AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES MODERNIZATION (COCAFM) TO CHECK THE PLIGHT OF FARMERS AND FISHERFOLK AMIDST EL NINO AND RISING PRICES OF COMMODITIES.

“These days people are very busy campaigning and I want to be sure whether the needs of the farmers and fisherfolk are attended to because we cannot allow the producers of our food to go hungry. What I want my COCAFM team to emphasize is that the local extension workers, with the help of state universities in the locality, assist them access fund, build their irrigation, market their products and create alternative sources of income.”, Loren said.

The COCAFM is a joint-congressional body mandated to monitor the implementation of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997. This twelve-year old law still needs to be implemented fully because even if many systems are already in place many coordination activities have to be pushed and creativity on the part of local chief executives needs to be harnessed.

For instance, local extension service delivery has to be improved particularly in skilling the local extension workers. “We have to ensure that the office of the municipal agriculture office (MAO) in all the municipalities have all the skills needed by our farmers and fisherfolk. One of these local extension workers in the MAO has to be an agricultural engineer to teach the farmers design and develop their own communal irrigation system (CIS), one should be an agribusiness expert to teach the farmers and fisherfolk prepare a business plan and access credit and market their products strategically.

These skills the MAOs need to have in addition to their expertise in technology dissemination. When the farmers have capital and have identified a profitable agribusiness venture, they would be able to use new technologies that will improve their yield.”, Loren said.

The management system being promoted by government for the farmers to achieve economies of scale, improve negotiating position, create their own credit system and access funds from government and other capital sources is cooperativism. The cooperatives can create their own credit system for the farmer-members to use and a collective mechanism to pool or integrate their landholdings to produce volume of output necessary to meet bulk requirement of big buyers.

However, impoverished farmers and fisherfolk have to be helped organize their cooperatives and meet the requirements of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) which in many cases are burdensome for them. “Hence I want to ask the farmers and fisherfolk to discuss with the COCAFM, the Department of Agriculture (DA), the provincial agriculturists and the state universities and colleges in the locality if there are organizational mechanisms that would be convenient for them so that we could study them or consider them for either legislative or executive action."

"One thing that I am toying about in regard to institutional concerns in agriculture is whether we could allow the farmers and fisherfolk to register their organizations in the municipal office only because they do not have to travel to the provincial or regional center to formalize recognition of their existence. Moreover, the office of the mayor would be in a better position to understand the problems of the farmers and fisherfolk because of its proximity and familiarity to them.”, Loren said.

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_118_Loren_Helps_Farmers.php

Senior Citizens Pledge Support to Loren

MAKATI CITY - AT A RECENT FORUM OF CITY AND MUNICIPAL CHAPTERS OF SENIOR CITIZENS UNIONS, SENATOR AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LOREN LEGARDA GARNERED THE APPROVAL AND SUPPORT OF THE COUNTRY’S ELDERLY.

Commissioner Elsie de Veyra of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women lauded Loren for her programs promoting best practices on solid waste management. "We know that environmental protection is very close to her heart, and this is very closely related to economic progress and social transformation.”

Another union leader in the forum explained, “In the 70s our country was among the richest in Asia because we had equally rich natural resources. and a robust agriculture sector. Judging from the present state of our natural resources and its effect on the economy, it is clear that we need the leadership of Senator Loren to turn the situation around. Environmental degradation is a challenge to governance.

Loren spoke to the national congregation of senior citizens unions to assure her commitment to senior citizens’ welfare. In the Senate, she authored Senate Bill 1394 which ALLOTS REPRESENTATION FOR THE ELDERLY IN THE SANGGUNIANS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS. SHE HAS ALSO ADVOCATED FOR THE exemptION OF senior citizens from paying real property tax, therefore relieving them of additional financial burdens in the latter years of their life. At the meeting Legarda also expressed her intent to urge Congress to mandate the representation of the elderly in LGUs.

Loren explained, “Senior citizens have vital role to play in society. We must lend full support to the improvement of their total well-being and encourage them to contribute to nation-building.”

Loren is the principal author of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2009 which Grants the elderly a 20% discount on the purchase of goods and services. In effect, it addresses the discrepancy from the Expanded VAT by allowing senior citizens to enjoy the full 20% discount privilege instead of the current 8% practiced by service providers as a consequence of an apparent deficiency in the law which was amended.

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_115_Senior_citizens_pledge_support_for_loren.php

Loren Confronts Environmental Degradation with Determination

SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA SAID WE SHOULD LOOK FORWARD AND PLAN AHEAD FOR A LIVABLE PHILIPPINES THAT WOULD BE OUR SECURE HOME. THIS SHE SAID AS SHE KEYNOTED A FORUM YESTERDAY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES WITH A THEME THAT CONVEYS A TONE BOTH OF NECESSITY AND OF ANXIETY: MGA KANDIDATO NG KALIKASAN AT KAPALIGIRAN: MAY BOBOTO BA?

“Indeed, environmental degradation and the disaster risks that accompany it have shown that the government has time and again failed to anticipate and act decisively to reduce disaster risks. Maybe the reason is that the environment was never a foremost priority among the problems our government seeks to solve,” said Loren who chairs the Senate committee on Climate Change.

She added, “The environment takes center stage. I welcome this as it is about time to reframe the issues at stake in the coming elections. These issues are most important because our experiences last year, flashfloods, landslides and all, have unmasked the anxieties of our people, particularly the most vulnerable poor.”

Loren who has always advocated pro-environment agenda seeks to prepare and protect our communities against disasters, turbocharged by climate change, by building their resilience to substantially reduce disaster losses, whether in lives or properties.

She said that we need to mainstream climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in local government units through capacity building and development of best practices. Climate change must likewise be integrated in school curricula.

Further, strong implementation of environmental laws supplemented by envi projects will help us fight this crisis.

“UP professors and students, there is so much more in advocating for the environment. We face other major threats of our time – poverty, threats to peace and order, and a widening gap between rich and poor. Formidable challenges, indeed. Advocating green politics is not as simple as a walk in the park, what with other issues and advocacies that appeal more to the masses of voters. What I am certain, however, is that the time has come for environmental advocacy to be in the forefront of governance and platform of an administration now that we have another chance to choose our leaders,” said Loren.

Loren concluded and left with a challenge to engage Filipinos towards positive changes that would bring about a livable and secure home for us, our children, and future generations of Filipinos.

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_113_Loren_confronts_environmental_degradation_with_determination.php