BETTER DAYS In a recent briefing of the Development Budget Coordination Committee on the ₱5.768 trillion national budget for 2024, our colleague and good friend Senator Nancy Binay narrated an interesting anecdote about her office’s toilet paper. Sen. Nancy noted that the quality of the toilet...
BETTER DAYS The Senate has officially started its deliberations on the proposed ₱5.768 trillion national budget for 2024 with the briefing of the Development Budget Coordination Committee on the macroeconomic assumptions and key data for the all-important measure. By rule, it is the House of...
BETTER DAYS Every year in August we observe the Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa or National Language Month. By virtue of Proklamasyon Blg. 1041, s. 1997 issued by the late former President Fidel Ramos, the nationwide observation of the Buwan ng Wika recognizes the linguistic diversity of the Philippines...
BETTER DAYS On Aug. 9, 2023 we commemorate the 29th International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The date was chosen by the United Nations General Assembly to mark the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982. There are at least 110 indigenous cultural...
BETTER DAYS Listening to the one hour and a half second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., we looked back at what the administration has done in its first full year in office and its plans for the coming year. Emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, the start of the...
Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (left), President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (Facebook, MANILA BULLETIN) Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte has hailed President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.' for his commitment on infrastructure development under the national...
BETTER DAYS In 2018, a Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) study entitled “Obstacles and Enablers of Internationalization of Philippine SMEs Through Participation in Global Value Chains” identified the challenges that hinder our small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from becoming...
BETTER DAYS There was a lot of brouhaha over the launch of the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) new slogan “Love the Philippines,” which replaces the 12-year-old It’s More Fun in the Philippines campaign conceptualized during the administration of the late former President Benigno Aquino III....
BETTER DAYS This year we mark the 21st Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day (Phil-Span). By virtue of Republic Act 9187, we commemorate the cultural and historical ties, friendship and cooperation between the Philippines and Spain on June 30 of each year. This was one of the legacies of my father,...
BETTER DAYS During the recently-concluded International Trade Forum held in Taguig City, the Marcos administration unveiled its Philippine Export Development Plan 2023 to 2028 (PEDP), a comprehensive strategy on how to grow our exports and make it at par with our neighboring countries and even the...
BETTER DAYS Last February, as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship, we conducted a hearing on the bill providing for Protected Geographical Indications (GIs) of locally produced agricultural or natural products, processed products, or any products of...
BETTER DAYS Every year on June 25 the world commemorates the Day of the Seafarer. First celebrated in 2011, it pays tribute to all seafarers around the world for their invaluable contribution to international trade and the world economy. It has been over a decade since we first filed the bill...
