De Lima happy to retain Senate social justice committee chairmanship

Senator Leila M. de Lima is grateful to remain as head of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development in the 18th Congress as it would allow her to continue and further improve the work she has started in the previous Congress.

De Lima, who first took over the committee's chairmanship in June 2018, thanked Senate President Vicente Sotto III and her Senate colleagues for their confidence and trust in steering important legislation.

"Every committee is important. Everything that bears upon the daily lives of the Filipino people should be attended to by the government. So I would have been happy to serve in any way I can," she said.

"But I am extremely happy to have retained chairmanship of the Social Justice Committee for it will allow me and the people I have worked with in the past year to follow through with what we have started, and to maximize the ground we have already broken so far," she added.

Under De Lima's chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development in the 17th Congress, her accomplishments include the passage of Republic Act No. 11310, or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (or 4Ps) Law and Republic Act No. 11291, or Magna Carta of the Poor Law, which she both authored.

The lady Senator from Bicol pointed out that retaining her chairmanship of the said committee will allow her and other stakeholders to be more productive because they would not be working "from zero."

"We already have a lot of ideas and legislative measures in the pipeline and we have already built good working relationships with the various stakeholders," the former chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights shared.

"It is great to be able to continue the good work we have already done so far because it allows us to go even further," she added.

De Lima, a known human rights and social justice champion, shared that advocating for the greater promotion of social justice and giving more benefits and legal protection to the less fortunate engenders a deep sense of fulfillment."