The House Committee on Health chairperson has hailed the enactment of the radio and television franchise of Southern Luzon State University (SLSU), a move that according to her would help mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The franchise to operate a radio and television stations serves to broaden the SLSU’s coverage and capacities as an effective instrument in information dissemination geared largely to promote community development and facilitate better public service," said Quezon 4th district Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan.
"The law will enable the SLSU to heighten its response to the need to deliver educational services amid the Covid-19 pandemic," noted the doctor-solon.
The SLSU's franchise to operate its media arm is embodied in Republic Act (RA) No.11680, which President Duterte signed recently. Tan and Quezon 1st district Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga authored the measure.
Under RA No.11680, the SLSU is mandated to provide adequate public service time to enable the government to reach the population on important public issues, provide at all times sound and balanced programming, and assist in the function of public information and education.
Tan said that the grant of radio and TV franchise to the SLSU, a premier local higher education institution, is important in light of the United Nation (UN)-backed UNESCO’s assessment of Covid-19 impact on education, "which reveals that so many students enrolled in various higher educational institutions in the Philippines had been affected by the school closures caused by the pandemic".
UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The House leader furher said that the franchise law that will allow the SLSU to deliver its services to marginalized students and the general public who are living in areas without Internet connectivity.
Tan, a third-term congresswoman, is running for the gubernatorial seat in Quezon in next month's elections.