By Ben Rosario
A day after the internment of the ashes of the late screen legend Eddie, his stepson, 1Pacman Partylist Rep. Mikee Romero lost no time in pushing for the passage of an Actors Occupational Safety and Health Standard Law providing for stricter measures for the prevention of accidents and other occupational hazards on the movie or television set and the imposition of stiff penalties for violations.
1PACMAN partylist Rep. Michael "Mikee" Romero (RIO DELUVIO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Romero, president of the Partylist Coalition Foundation Inc., said he expects more than 100 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives to co-author the measure to be known as “The Eddie Garcia Law.”
Earlier, the PCFI, the second largest political bloc in the Lower House, announced that they will nominate Garcia for a “posthumous conferment of the National Artist award.”
Romero’s House colleagues who visited the wake of the veteran movie actor have apparently given their assurance of support for the measure.
“And likewise (I) expect the Senate through SP Tito Sotto to do the counterpart bill in the upper chamber,” Romero said in a Facebook post yesterday.
Romero is the son of Lilibeth Romero, partner of Garcia for over 30 years.
The actor died a few days when he fell into coma after accidentally tripping during the taping for the television series “Rosang Agimat” being produced by GMA 7 network. He was 90.
“The "Eddie Garcia Bill" will be a means to safeguard the welfare and well being of all actors working in the television and/or in the movie industry,” explained Romero.
The partylist solon said the proposed measure will be the first bill he will file when the 18th Congress opens. He is expected to file the bill as soon as the Lower House starts accepting legisaltive proposals on July 1.