Rome, Italy — Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, former Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, today stressed the importance of strengthening Philippine foreign relations in a highly dynamic community of nations and international players, and one of the means to achieve this is to establish presence of the Philippines in other parts of the world.
Underscoring the importance of the Philippine government’s presence abroad, Legarda announced the opening of new posts of the Department of Foreign Affairs, saying that “this is important not only to project a stronger image in the international community, facilitate trade, cultural and diplomatic relations, but this will also help cater to the needs of our kababayan.”
During her privilege speech last September 30, Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda urged her fellow lawmakers in the Congress to strictly implement the country’s climate change laws and policies and ensure that climate change adaptation and mitigation is mainstreamed in all policies, plans, and programs of the government.
Legarda, an environmental champion, stressed on the importance of achieving the 1.5°C long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. The three-term Senator said that the 1.5°C goal is the global warming threshold that will enable vulnerable developing countries like the Philippines to survive and thrive.
Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda has filed 19 local bills seeking to convert and establish public schools in Antique to address the need for better access to quality primary and secondary education for school children in the province without them having to go far from their communities.
“Let not one child be deprived of the opportunity to learn and be taught so he or she can have a better and brighter future. If the proximity becomes a hindrance for a child to go to school, then let’s bring the school closer to where the students are,” said Legarda.
To highlight the value of teachers and the essential role they play in the development of the youth and society, Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda sponsored the allocation of additional P800 million under the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd) for the year 2019.
Legarda, former Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, introduced the amendment as a special allowance to public school teachers and said that the allocation will be given on World Teachers’ Day on October 5 as an incentive or honorarium. Each teacher will receive P1,000.
“People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”
These are few of the gripping words spoken by the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, addressing the United Nations Climate Action Summit on Monday.
