Ensuring the sustainability of vital government programs, raising the level of the country’s education to make it globally competitive, and future-proofing the Philippines for domestic and external shocks make up the first 10 bills that Sen. Pia Cayetano has filed in the Senate for the 19th Congress.
Cayetano’s first 10 bills are the proposed Education Roadmap Act, Center for Disease Control and Prevention Act, Sustainability-Based Budgeting Act, Sports Excellence Roadmap Act, Increasing the Minimum Age of Access to Tobacco, Water Sustainability Act, amendments to the Philippine Nursing Act, Sustainable Cities and Communities Act, Safe Pathways Network Act and the Sustainable Transportation Act.
“These bills are forward-looking and aim to prepare our nation better for the challenges ahead while never losing sight of our sustainable development goals,” Cayetano explained.
“The health measures were drawn from our hard-earned lessons in the last two years in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to further strengthen our healthcare system to provide services for our people,” she added.
She also said the proposed education roadmap aims to produce Filipino graduates who are well-rounded and competitive amid the rapidly changing demands of industries and the knowledge-based global economy.
“Aside from acquiring the so-called ‘four Cs’ of 21st Century skills—namely, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity—this bill is primarily aimed to help our students regain our edge in English proficiency, which we are fast losing,” she explained.
English proficiency, she said, is a vital skill that has made Filipino workers and professionals in demand abroad.
She also noted that he Filipinos’ proficiency in the English language has also prompted multi-national companies to invest heavily in the country’s IT-Business Process Management Industry (IT-BPM).
Together with her brother, former House Speaker and returning Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, they jointly filed the Sports Excellence Roadmap Act which aims to lay down a 20-year road map to produce elite world-class athletes.
This sports measure, she said, would be anchored on a solid grassroots program, as well as sustained training, exposure and support for national athletes and chosen focus sports.