Press Release
April 13, 2010

BONG REVILLA'S ACCOMPLISHMENT NOT 103 BILLS PASSED
INTO LAW; ITS 107

THE legislative accomplishments of Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. further increased after more of his bills were enacted into law during the campaign period.

Four of his proposed bills which deal with road safety, health and poverty alleviation, were recently signed into law - bringing 107 laws which he either authored or co-sponsored during the 13th and 14th Congress. These are the laws that require motorcycle riders and backriders to wear standard protective helmets; granting additional benefits and privileges to senior citizens; regulating practice of respiratory therapy; and reforming agriculture and agrarian credit and financing.

The senator expressed elation on the enactment of his pet bill, the Mandatory Helmet Act, as he explained that it will lessen fatal accidents on the road. He cited studies that showed helmets are 37 percent effective in preventing fatal injuries and 67 percent effective in preventing brain injuries to motorcyclists. "After more than two years of pushing this bill, our long wait is finally over. Wearing of helmets will greatly reduce fatalities in road accidents and would also boost a sense of discipline to all motorcycle riders," he pointed out.

The lawmaker is also among those who pushed for the passage of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 which was signed into law last February 15 under Republic Act 9994 that gave the estimated five million Filipino elders benefits and privileges not included in the Senior Citizens Act of 1992. These include a 20-percent discount and exemption from the value-added tax (VAT) on the sale of goods and services such as medicines, medical and dental fees, transport fares, services in hotels and restaurants, admission fees in theaters and other places of leisure. He pushed for the additional benefit of P500 monthly stipend to impoverished senior citizens.

According to Bong Revilla, Republic Act 10000 or Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act which was signed into law last February 23 will cushion the marginalized group - especially farmers and fisherfolks - from the effects of economic slump and natural calamities, including the present El Niño phenomenon."Through this law, our farmers and fisherfolks will have access in financing as the law directed all private and government-run banking institutions to set aside 25 percent of their total loanable funds for agriculture and fisheries credit," Bong Revilla said.

The reelectionist senator is also an author of Republic Act No. 10024 or the Philippine Respiratory Therapy Act which was signed into law last March 9 to regulate the practice of respiratory therapy through licensure examinations in the country. Its enactment into law will professionalize respiratory therapy and put it in equal footing with other specialties such as nursing, medical technology, radiology technology, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.

Bong Revilla filed more than 500 bills; all of them can be summed up to direct public service to people and living alleviation of Filipinos. "If we will be fortunate to be reelected in the Senate, we will push again the passage of our other bills that would improve the living conditions of our countrymen, especially the underprivileged. I am already victorious because the bills that I have formulated for marginalized groups - farmers, fisherfolks, micro and small entrepreneurs - are already laws," the senator concluded.

Aside from laws that alleviate the living conditions of marginalized groups, Bong Revilla also filed 63 public works laws which gave way to improvement of roads in the countryside. He also authored several laws that improve the country's energy sources to give efficient power supply in Metro Manila and provinces. "I do believe that improved infrastructures - including road projects, communication and transportation - set conducive investment climate which will result to availability of jobs and livelihood for the people and therefore reduce poverty," he added.

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