Senator Imee R. Marcos announced the passing of new laws and acts in a press conference with Pangasinan media held at the Golden Lion Hotel of the Pangasinan State University (PSU) on December 7, 2023.
In her speech, Sen. Marcos revealed that the Salt Industry Development Bill has been approved prior to her arrival in Pangasinan, noting that the province is a salt-producing area.
Additionally, she laid her plans on the Centenarian’s Act, stating that seniors aged 80–95 will be eligible to receive monthly P10,000 allowance. She explained the P25 billion additional budget for Senior Social Stipend to turn the monthly P500 cash assistance to P1,000 for marginalized seniors.
Also, the new Passport Law, which aims for greater passport handling efficiency, will now be machine readable, she announced.
Further, as part of #ImeeTrabaho, she discussed the Kalahi-CIDSS work program, which provides 90 days of work for fresh graduates. PSU currently has over 500 recipients of the Kalahi-CIDSS program.
Senator Marcos lamented the country’s current rank in the Programme for International Assessment (PISA) which is at the bottom 10 sparking controversy and alarm for the current state of the country’s education system, which is deemed as ‘lagging’ by PISA.
“𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡… 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝑊𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟… 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒,” the senator said.
Investing more in teachers, she said, is the key to improving the country’s educational system.
As such, she shared her utmost effort in pushing for the P5,000 increase for chalk allowance, which has been unchanged for almost 20 years. This is to provide more learning materials and budget for teachers, leading to a more effective teaching and learning for students.
The Senator was at Pangasinan State University on Thursday to personally distribute P5,000 education allowance to 2,000 students of PSU as part of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-AICS).
“𝐴𝐼𝐶𝑆 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑒,” she added.
The Ilocana senator commended PSU for its massive developments since its founding. She urged the university to keep its performance and continue improving as a premiere state university in the region.
Joining her during the press conference were University President Dr. Elbert M. Galas, former president Dr. Dexter R. Buted and SINAG Chairman Engr. Rosendo So.
The Senator was also welcomed by Governor Ramon Guico III and Vice Governor Mark Ronald Lambino who joined her during the presscon.
𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚: 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛 𝐺𝑖𝑙 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛̃𝑜
𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒔: 𝑃𝑅𝐼𝑂 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑆𝑈 𝐶𝐴𝑆𝑇 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒
