(delivered by Rep. Edcel C. Lagman on 26 November 2020)
Representative Raul Veloso Del Mar and I, among many others, were neophytes in the 8th Congress which convened on July 27, 1987, a little over a year after the EDSA I People Power Revolution. That was three decades and three years or 33 years ago.
When the current 18th Congress convened on July 22, 2019, 32 lears later, Raul and I were among the 10 survivors of the 8th Congress who were elected to the current Congress.
(By: Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, 30 September 2020)
Mr. Speaker and Distinguished Sponsor: The Constitution grants fiscal autonomy to the Judiciary as well as to the Office of the Ombudsman, the constitutional bodies like the Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission and Commission on Elections, and also to the Commission on Human Rights, in order to respect and protect their independence from the interference and control of partisan politics, particularly from the Legislature and the Executive.
"My heart tells me not to be a masochist by sharing the harrowing and painful experience of my family during Martial Law. But my mind asserts that I should speak out and disseminate the truth for silence kills. It kills the truth. It kills freedom of expression. It kills the right to dissent. It kills democracy.
Many were forced to keep quiet by the might and terror of Martial Law. But not a few refused to be cowed into submission and be muzzled, notwithstanding the threat to their life, liberty and security.
May I earnestly commend the Albay Provincial Field Office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) under the initiative and leadership of Provincial Director Leah Balderama-Dy with the overall stewardship of Regional Director Joel Gonzalez for sponsoring the 2020 DOLE-Albay Online Job Fair.
BY: REP. EDCEL C. LAGMAN
There is no constitutional provision in the 1987 Constitution which was violated when the premises, facilities and operations of ABS-CBN were returned in 1986 by the Republic of the Philippines under the Cory Aquino presidency to the Lopez family as majority owners.
