Way overdue, but nevertheless a welcome development. The approval by the Committee of Justice and Human Rights of the measure that will increase the age of sexual consent in our country last Oct. 1, has been a long-awaited piece of legislation to protect our youth.
The Committee considered several bills including the one I filed last July 18, 2019, Senate Bill No. 622. The proposed increase in the age of statutory rape from the present 12 to 16 years old, amending the Revised Penal Code...
...serves as the mantle of protection that the children of this country need – especially at a time when their innocence has become so easily and cheaply pawned both in the real world and the cyber world.
In 2018, I first filed my version of the measure after UNICEF Philippines started the movement to #ENDChildRape on their online platforms where they made public the horrific truth that the PH age of sexual consent is the lowest in Asia.
The current age of consent which is pegged at 12 years old has also placed us in the world ranking as second only to Nigeria.
Masakit at mapait na tanong ang nag-laro sa aking isipan - paanong sa isang bansang itinatangi ang kabataan bilang pag-asa ng bayan, ay pinapabayaan natin sila sa kawalan na parang mga tupang walang pastol?
A country that tags the youth as its future should then put premium on their welfare and create strongholds that would shelter them from the world’s viciousness.
Their tender and formative years should not be smeared by evils that could otherwise be prevented. They should not be robbed of their innocence while malicious and sinister beings roam freely amongst them.
Panahon na para bigyan sila ng karampatang proteksyon. Kung sa edad na labindalawa ay maraming desisyong legal ang hindi nila maaring gawin, nararapat din lamang na huwag abandunahin sa kanilang mga kamay ang kanilang kapalaran.
This measure will not only protect our youth from sexual predators who may so conveniently raise the defense of consent in a court of law to exonerate them, it will likewise hopefully stem the rise in teenage pregnancies.
In 2019, the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) already sounded the alarm on our numbers which was then at 530 teenage pregnancies daily – calling it a “national social emergency.”
Sa bawat linggo daw, mayroon isang sampung-taong gulang na musmos ang nabubuntis – na kadalasan ay dahil sa sexual abuse o incest. Masaklap na katotohanang kailangang agad na tugunan, bigyang lunas at wakasan.
Let us vote “yes” to saving our children – to preserving their virtue, to putting an end to wanton abuse of their innocence.
Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 932, here: issuu.com/senatorleilam.…

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More from @SenLeiladeLima

5 Oct
It should have been over a long time ago.

As soon as the results came out on the revision of the pilot precincts in provinces chosen by Marcos himself, the election protest of Bongbong Marcos against VP Leni Robredo should have been automatically dismissed in accordance with the Image
COMELEC & PET Rules on the effect of non-recovery of votes in pilot precincts. Non-recovery simply means that Marcos failed to demonstrate that he actually won the 2016 VP election when he was not able to recover more additional votes than VP Leni during the revision of ballots.
In fact, Robredo recovered more votes than Marcos. Around fifteen thousand more.

This can only mean that Marcos is squarely a loser, like his father was in the 1969 elections, if only he did not cheat big time. Well, like father like son.
Read 15 tweets
5 Oct
I support my colleagues in the Senate in urging the DOLE to present a comprehensive and long-term plan for our 478,839 OFWs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Halos kalahating milyon. Iyan ang nakapanlulumong bilang ng OFWs nating nawalan ng trabaho.
Habang marami ang napilitang umuwi ng Pilipinas, mayroon namang piniling makipagpatintero sa virus sa ibayong dagat.

Hindi natin sila masisisi lalo pa’t marami sa mga pinabalik dito ay wala pa ring tiyak na trabaho at hindi pa nakatatanggap ng ayuda mula sa gobyerno.
Kabilang na nga sila ngayon sa mga kababayan nating pinaghihintay na lang ni Duterte sa bakuna at lantarang ipinagkakanulo sa Tsina.
Read 5 tweets
5 Oct
In her message on World Teacher’s Day, De Lima said addressing the concerns and giving the needed assistance to lessen teachers’ burden is the least that she and other public servants can do to genuinely honor and recognize their sacrifices.

READ:
leiladelima.ph/de-lima-recogn…
We can never thank you enough. This is why I reiterate my support in urging DepEd to fill its vacancies in teaching positions to fully implement the blended learning modality this school year.
I likewise support DepEd’s plan of hiring para-teachers to assist our teachers and the distance learners with their lessons.
Read 4 tweets
3 Oct
“No beep card, no ride” naman ngayon. Anong kabalbalan ito? Lalo pang pinaliit ang access ng ordinaryong mamamayan sa mga pangunahing serbisyo, katulad ng transportasyon. Image
Mukhang hindi na naman napaghandaan at napag-isipan ng gobyerno ang contactless payment system na ito na bumulaga na lamang sa ordinaryong commuters.
Para isipin pa kung paano makakabili ng isang P180 na beep card upang makapunta sa trabaho ay dagdag pahirap na naman sa ordinaryong manggagawa.
Read 8 tweets
1 Oct
A few of my colleagues at the Senate have urged the DepEd to fill its 55,000-plus vacancies – over 34,000 of which are teaching positions – in order to fully implement the blended learning modality for the coming school year. Image
Let me make it clear that I also echo this sentiment. Thousands of teachers have been displaced owing to the closure of private schools which could no longer maintain operations amid the pandemic.
Marapat lang na mabigyan sila ng pagkakataon na muling makapagturo at makapaghanapbuhay. These vacancies have to be filled as soon as possible.
Read 11 tweets
1 Oct
Even before the scheduled DOH budget hearing at the Senate, we hear again the plight and outcry of the healthcare sector because of significant budget cuts that deprive them of the arsenal to defeat the vicious virus that this administration has failed to combat. Image
Napakasaklap na sa gitna ng pandemyang pangkalusugan, habang patuloy na dinadagdagan ang budget para sa paboritong ahensya at programa ng Pangulo, habang patuloy na lumolobo ang kanyang Intelligence Fund, health sector ang naisasantabi at magdurusa.
The proposed DOH budget, as correctly observed by the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), is tantamount to nothing more than just alms.

Tila ba pinapagpalimos ang taumbayan para sa kalinga at malasakit na palaging ibinibida ng administrasyong ito.
Read 13 tweets

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