Legarda Bats for Regulation of Plastic Bags Use as Report Says More Plastic than Fish in Oceans by 2050

January 19, 2017

Senator Loren Legarda today renewed her call for the regulation of the use of plastic bags to help prevent oceans from carrying more plastic than fish as projected in one study.

Legarda made the call as she noted a 2016 report, The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which showed that the world produced 20 times more plastic in 2014 (311 million tonnes) than it did in 1964 (15 million tonnes) and at this rate, oceans are expected to contain more plastic than fish (by weight) by the year 2050.

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Legarda Welcomes Almario as NCCA Chair, Ensures Support for Arts and Culture in 2017 Budget

January 13, 2017

Senator Loren Legarda today ensured that the government will continue to support the arts and culture sector under the 2017 national budget as she welcomed the election of National Artist for Literature, Virgilio S. Almario, as the new chairperson of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Almario was elected to the position following the end of term of Professor Felipe de Leon, Jr.

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Legarda: 2017 Budget Funds Increase in Combat Duty and Incentive Pay of Cops, Soldiers

January 11, 2017

Senator Loren Legarda today said that uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will continue to receive their increased combat duty and incentive pay under the 2017 national budget.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said that P12.1 billion has been allocated under the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund for the said purpose.

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Things we would like to see in 2017

January 11, 2017

In our country, 2016 ended with Senator Loren Legarda promising to legislate a separate department for culture and the arts. The issue may sound trivial to many, but this writer agrees with the good senadora. We should be serious about our history, culture and the arts, and government should put together the disparate agencies in charge of our cultural heritage under central management. We have the National Museum, the National Library, the National Historical Institute, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Cultural Center, several film development agencies, and God knows whatever else.

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