PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III is receiving criticisms for his decision to veto a bill that would protect the rights of the poor by ensuring them equal access to basic rights and government services.
In an interview after keynoting the 5th Anniversary of the Civil
Aviation Authority of the Philippines in Pasay City on Monday, Aquino
confirmed that he did not sign the proposed Magna Carta for the Poor
measure, citing the improbability of the government meeting its demands.
But Zambales Representative Mitos Magsaysay, Aquino's staunches critic, said the President's veto of the proposed measure shows "that he has no love and concern for our less fortunate brothers."
"His elitist background is showing," Magsaysay, an author of the House version of the bill, said.
Gabriela party-list Representative Luzviminda Ilagan said Aquino being a member of an elite clan "cannot relate to the concerns of the impoverished in our country."
"Do we not say that those who have less in life should have more in law? But with the President's veto, even the law cannot be source of relief to the poor," Ilagan said.
But Aquino found an ally in one of the bill's author, Bagong Henerasyon party-list Representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy, who said that the President has a valid reason for the veto.
"His strong support for the CCT (conditional cash transfer) program is a testimony of how he feels for the poor. We are sure the President's objections are not contradictory to the rationale behind the measure," Herrera-Dy said.
Senator Francis Pangilinan, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, said earlier that the Magna Carta for the Poor seeks to ensure the protection of five basic rights of every Filipino.
Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, the Philippines, as a signatory, joins 160 other countries in committing to work towards the granting of economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) to individuals, including labor rights and the right to health, the right to education, and the right to an adequate standard of living.
Aquino cited Section 4 of the ICESCR which gave the poor the right to immediately demand "the enjoyment of which is an essential step towards poverty alleviation: a) the right of food; b) the right to employment and livelihood; c) the right to quality education; d) the right to shelter; and e) the right to basic health services and medicine."
He noted as an example the provision of providing shelter, which he said is around five million social housing units that will cost P2.320-trillion, which is the entire budget for this year of about P2-trillion.
"The right to food, the right to work, the right to health, the right to education are not yet included," the President said, adding that he did not want the concerned government agencies and officials to be sued if they fail to provide the basic services embodied in the vetoed measure.
"So, our corrective action is, we direct the social cluster (of the Cabinet) to draw up a substitute measure that we will give to the next Congress and, hopefully, that they will act upon with haste," Aquino added.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., however, doubts that the present 15th Congress will be able to deliberate on the substitute measure with haste considering that they have only two session days in June before Congress adjourns sine die.
"We can't pass it in the 15th Congress anymore. But for sure, it will be a priority in the next Congress and we can pass it the first two months of the first session," Belmonte said in a text message Monday. (Kathrina Alvarez/SDR/Sunnex)
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2013/03/25/aquino-criticized-veto-pro-poor-bill-274669#.UVEcFgiRg4c.facebook
But Zambales Representative Mitos Magsaysay, Aquino's staunches critic, said the President's veto of the proposed measure shows "that he has no love and concern for our less fortunate brothers."
"His elitist background is showing," Magsaysay, an author of the House version of the bill, said.
Gabriela party-list Representative Luzviminda Ilagan said Aquino being a member of an elite clan "cannot relate to the concerns of the impoverished in our country."
"Do we not say that those who have less in life should have more in law? But with the President's veto, even the law cannot be source of relief to the poor," Ilagan said.
But Aquino found an ally in one of the bill's author, Bagong Henerasyon party-list Representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy, who said that the President has a valid reason for the veto.
"His strong support for the CCT (conditional cash transfer) program is a testimony of how he feels for the poor. We are sure the President's objections are not contradictory to the rationale behind the measure," Herrera-Dy said.
Senator Francis Pangilinan, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, said earlier that the Magna Carta for the Poor seeks to ensure the protection of five basic rights of every Filipino.
Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, the Philippines, as a signatory, joins 160 other countries in committing to work towards the granting of economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) to individuals, including labor rights and the right to health, the right to education, and the right to an adequate standard of living.
Aquino cited Section 4 of the ICESCR which gave the poor the right to immediately demand "the enjoyment of which is an essential step towards poverty alleviation: a) the right of food; b) the right to employment and livelihood; c) the right to quality education; d) the right to shelter; and e) the right to basic health services and medicine."
He noted as an example the provision of providing shelter, which he said is around five million social housing units that will cost P2.320-trillion, which is the entire budget for this year of about P2-trillion.
"The right to food, the right to work, the right to health, the right to education are not yet included," the President said, adding that he did not want the concerned government agencies and officials to be sued if they fail to provide the basic services embodied in the vetoed measure.
"So, our corrective action is, we direct the social cluster (of the Cabinet) to draw up a substitute measure that we will give to the next Congress and, hopefully, that they will act upon with haste," Aquino added.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., however, doubts that the present 15th Congress will be able to deliberate on the substitute measure with haste considering that they have only two session days in June before Congress adjourns sine die.
"We can't pass it in the 15th Congress anymore. But for sure, it will be a priority in the next Congress and we can pass it the first two months of the first session," Belmonte said in a text message Monday. (Kathrina Alvarez/SDR/Sunnex)
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2013/03/25/aquino-criticized-veto-pro-poor-bill-274669#.UVEcFgiRg4c.facebook
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