I am glad that the Management Association of the Philippines Agribusiness and Countryside Development (MAP-ABCD) Foundation has remained focused on policy advocacy. I am also happy that you are interested in some of my priority measures. I can assure you that the House Bills you have assigned for me to discuss this noon would really impact on countryside development.
I wish to congratulate the UP Economics Towards Consciousness (UP ETC) for aiming for both academic excellence and active politicization of its members and the broader UP community. Indeed, UP students must excel academically and at the same time be politically aware and active, both on and off campus.
Bilang mga iskolar ng bayan, kailangan ninyong maglingkod sa bayan at magbantay ng bayan ngayon at sa hinaharap. Hence, it is imperative that you are politicized and fully aware of the burning issues that the nation confronts. For this reason, I am happy that you are interested in the 2008 national budget or the proposed General Appropriations Act for FY 2008. The GAA is the most important traditional law that Congress enacts or is constitutionally mandated to pass annually. There are times, however, that Congress fails to pass the national budget or Congress passes the General Appropriations Bill after the end of the current fiscal year. In such cases, the General Appropriations Act of the previous year is deemed reenacted.
(Speech delivered by REP. EDCEL C. LAGMAN at the “Men’s Congress” of the Quezon City Council on Population (QCCP) on 17 October 2007)
No woman should die giving life. Walang ni isang babae ang dapat mamatay sa panganganak, sa pagbigay buhay. Ngunit sa Pilipinas, sampung babae ang namamatay araw-araw sa pagbubuntis o panganganak. As husbands, brothers, sons and friends of women, we should not stand idly by and let the miracle of life continue to mean death for so many mothers.
Kaya po ikinagagalak ko na ang Quezon City Population Council ay may seminar na magtuturo sa ating mga kalalakihan kung paano maging epektibong katuwang ng mga kababahihan sa usapin ng maternal health at safe motherhood.
(Message of REP. EDCEL C. LAGMAN at the “Balitaan sa Hotel Rembrandt” on 28 September 2007)
With close to 20 million adolescents in the Philippines today, the current adolescent population is the biggest in our history. This age group of 10-19 year olds comprises a whopping 22.5% or almost a fourth of the entire Philippine population of 88.7 million.
Verily, the health concerns of this population, which includes adolescent reproductive health, should be an indispensable and integral component of public health.
(Message delivered by REP. EDCEL C. LAGMAN at the Founding National Assembly of the Local Legislators’ League on Population, Health, Environment and Development [3LPHED] on 14 November 2006 at the Imperial Palace Suites, Quezon City)
The goal of this four-day conference is to plant the seed of advocacy in your hearts so that as local legislators you will be committed and steadfast in your mission to enact clear, comprehensive and responsive legislation on the vital issues that concern human development.
When we talk about human development, we are talking about the process of widening people’s choices and opportunities. Genuine human development entails nothing less than giving people the means — education, health, good employment, a life-sustaining environment — to improve their lives and thus empower themselves.