Senate OKs bills on Nat’l Bible Day, OFW handbooks, feeding programs

The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading five bills instituting the “National Bible Day,” national energy efficiency frameworks, and handbooks for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), among others.

Senate has approved Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1270 which seeks to declare the last Monday of January as the “National Bible Day,” a special working holiday in celebration of the Christian faith and the values on the Holy Bible.

Senator Manny Pacquiao, the bill’s author and sponsor, said the bill is a call for all Christians to “unite altogether and celebrate the Holy Bible as the cradle of human faith.”

The Senate has also approved SBN 192, or the “Handbook for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) Act,” a bill which would mandate the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to publish and disseminate a standard handbook on the rights and responsibilities of Filipino migrant workers.

The upper chamber has likewise approved SBN 1623, or the proposed “Recoverable Systems Loss Act,” sponsored by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.

The proposed measure seeks to reduce the cap on the recoverable systems losses charged by distribution utilities to consumers and increase savings by Filipinos in their electricity bills.

Gatchalian’s sponsored SBN 1531, or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act of 2018 was also approved by the Senate.

This bill, he said, would create a “comprehensive energy efficiency and conservation framework” that would serve as an alternative approach to the country’s efforts to attain secure, affordable, and sustainable power.

SBN 1279, also known as the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act, was also approved. It seeks to establish a national feeding program for public school students and children in day care centers to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in the country.

The bill was authored by Senators Gregorio Honasan II, Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino, Grace Poe, Loren Legarda, Cynthia Villa, Joel Villanueva, Gatchalian, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Majority Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.

“It is definitely one of the safety nets for the poor at a time when prices of basic goods and food are increasing. It is a measure to save the pain inflicted by the burdensome demands that we have now,” Poe said in a statement. /je