Month: August 2023

August 25, 2023 – CIBAC Party-List Rep. Bro. Eddie Villanueva files House Bill 8952 which aims to provide free legal assistance to government auditors who are facing complaints before any court or quasi-judicial bodies due to acts in performance of their official duties.

Under HB 8952 or the Auditors Free Legal Assistance Act, any auditor or auditing personnel of the Commission on Audit (COA) facing any criminal, civil or administrative case involving service-related incident before a prosecutor’s office, court, administrative body, or any competent body or tribunal, shall be entitled to free legal assistance from the government. Further, retired state auditors shall also be entitled to the assistance even when the case was filed after retirement.

The free legal assistance includes legal representation in all stages of the case, legal advice or consultations, preparation of pleadings, motions, memoranda, and all other legal forms and documents, notarization of documents and all other legal services as directed by the Commissioner-in-charge. The funds necessary for the implementation of the bill shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

During the pork barrel scam in 2013, twelve (12) COA auditors faced raps when they raised red flags on the misuse of Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF). Ombudsman eventually junked the case after two (2) years.

“Harassment, threat or legal challenges from some politicians and high government officials are part of the risks that intimidate and hinder our state auditors to do their job properly and effectively. Given the cost of legal actions, state auditors are placed at disadvantaged position when they shoulder expenses in facing legal cases. Thus, to guarantee them all necessary legal services they will need in case they face administrative or court charges in the performance of their duties is a concrete gesture of our support to them and a testament to our commitment to fight corruption,” says CIBAC Rep. Villanueva.

“Our state auditors are our first line of defense against corruption in the government. The measure aims to inspire and embolden them to fight corruption head-on. We hope for the immediate passage of HB 8952,” adds the CIBAC solon.#

August 22, 2023 – CIBAC Party-List Representative Bro. Eddie Villanueva lauds the House of Representatives approval of House Bill 8400 or the Trabaho Para sa Pilipino bill which is one of the priority legislations of the Marcos administration.

House Bill 8400, principally authored by CIBAC Representative Bro. Eddie Villanueva, mandates the establishment of a Jobs Creation Plan (JCP) that shall serve as a comprehensive and national master plan on employment generation and recovery. It aims to promote and ensure the employability, competitiveness, wellness and productivity of Filipino workers through efficient, effective and timely delivery of skills trainings and development programs.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed that the country had a 95.7% employment rate in May 2023 – or about 48.26 million Filipinos employed. There remains 4.3% or about 2.17 million unemployed Filipinos out of the 50.43 million workforce.

“One of the key areas to focus on in order to produce more jobs is the crucial linkage between investments and job trainings. We must make sure that for every possible investment or business that will come to us, we must equip our workforce with the necessary skill and knowledge to ascertain the employability of our people. HB 8400 addresses this challenge. Through synergism and collaboration of our concerned government agencies, investments will be proactively matched with appropriate job trainings, government funding and incentives to ensure coordination and harmonization of our efforts that will ultimately result to creation of jobs for our people,” says CIBAC Rep. Bro. Eddie Villanueva.

“With HB 8400, there will be a whole-of-government approach to employment generation. Jobs creation will cease to be a concern of only one or two government agencies,” according to CIBAC Rep. Villanueva.

“Also, we are not only after quantity of jobs – but equally concerned of quality. Decent jobs is our goal. Generating decent and stable employment must be itself a primary objective alongside our pursuit of development. With this bill, we will make sure that the kind of workers needed by industries will be the ones that we will train and supply to them so that our workers will be valued and compensated properly,” adds the CIBAC solon.

The CIBAC solon also expresses gratitude to Representatives Gus Tambunting and Fidel Nograles who are co-authors and sponsors of the bill for the valuable contribution to the passage of the bill.

August 10, 2023 – On the first day of the budget hearings on the proposed FY 2024 budget at the House of Representatives, CIBAC Party-List Representative Bro. Eddie Villanueva raised the worsening problem of massive flooding in the country, particularly in Central Luzon, and seeks a tighter scrutiny and probe of flood control budgets lodged in separate agencies in the national budget.

In the past days, several provinces in Luzon, particularly Bulacan and Pampanga which are currently both under state of calamity, were submerged in high-level flooding caused by the heavy rains of typhoons Egay and Falcon and spilling rivers in the provinces. This happened despite the hefty multi-billion funds in the national budget aimed at mitigating flooding.

For year 2023, the government has appropriated Php 280 billion pesos for flood control management program under the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). This is on top of other flood mitigation projects in the budgets of DENR, NIA and MMDA. For next year 2024, an amount of Php 265 billion under DPWH budget is being proposed to fund flood control projects – on top of other agencies’ flood control budgets.

“Naalala ko po sa aming pagsilip po sa 2024 National Expenditure Program o NEP, almost the same kinds of projects ang popondohan for next year. Puro flood control structures along rivers, slope protection, revetment, riverwall, etc. Madam Chair, these are the kinds of projects na pinopondohan natin in the previous years pero palala pa rin nang palala ang pagbaha sa ating bansa. Gusto ko sanang malaman kung effective ba ang ganitong approach? Heto ba ang solusyon sa problema natin sa pagbaha?” says CIBAC Rep. Villanueva during the budget hearing with the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC).

“Sa aming pag-aaral, around P1 billion pesos a [day] ang funding against flood. Meron po ba kayong assessment o review kung effective ang mga nailagay nating budget dito sa flood control? Meron po bang integrated budgeting ng flood control para hindi nasasayang ang pera, P 1 billion pesos a day, tapos andaming naaapektuhan? Iyon lang ang aking pakiusap, alang-alang sa milyun-milyong kababayan na taun-taon ay nalulubog sa baha, lalo na sa aking lalawigan sa Bulacan, bigyan po natin ng special na pagsilip ang mga flood control budgets during this budget season,” adds the CIBAC solon.

“Nakakagalit po kasi Madam Chair ang palala nang palalang problema ng pagbaha. At sinasabi ko Madam Chair na this time hindi ko po kayang pumayag na iaa-approve ang bilyun-bilyong budget na inilalaan natin sa flood control management program. Kailangan po nating magparamdam ng pangil ng accountability, hindi po pwedeng business as usual lang,” exclaims the CIBAC Rep. Villanueva. #