SENATE minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III yesterday said there is a need to review the party-list system as its legisla-tive intent to represent sectoral groups is no longer being followed.

In a press conference, Pimentel said the review may be done once a new set of lawmakers are seated after the midterm elections next year.

Pimentel said he has observed that some of the nominees of participating party-list groups do not represent the mar-ginalized sectors, thus defeating the true purpose of the law.

“Nakita ko sa mga interviews ng mga nag-file ng party list… ang sagot nila eh gusto nilang dagdagan ang puwersa ng dis-trict representative na kamag-anak nila. So, nasira na ang essence ng party list system na sana for the poor and marginal-ized. Sana maayos natin na limitado lang doon sa talagang 12 (marginalized sectors listed in the Constitution) (I have watched the interviews of those who filed their candidacies for party list. They said that they want to add power to their district representative who is their relative. So, the essence of the party list system is lost. I hope we can fix this by lim-iting them to the 12 marginalized sectors listed in the Constitution),” Pimentel said.

He said that relatives of district representatives seeking election through the party-list system have grown in numbers, which means that they only want to expand their political influence.

“So, we really have to reform the party-list system,” he stressed.

He said this can be done by introducing amendments to the 1987 Constitution, but did not elaborate.

SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday urged the National Telecommunications Commission to strictly supervise telco providers amid the fraudulent use of SIM cards by cybercriminals, including those in the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) industry.

“We want the NTC to crack the whip if telcos are not following the law and NTC rules. That’s the only way we can instill discipline because, for them, a SIM card sold means revenue,” Gatchalian said during the briefing for the proposed budget of the Department of Information and Communications Technology. The NTC is an attached agency under the DICT.

Gatchalian, a co-author of the SIM Registration Act, said the NTC should prevent the fraudulent registrations of SIMs by strictly supervising the telcos.

He said criminal syndicates, including those in the POGO industry, defraud unsuspecting victims using fraudulently registered SIMs.

Gatchalian said the “root cause” of the problem “(the) is easy access to SIM cards” even if there is already a SIM Registration Law.

Under the law, SIM cards are required to be registered before activation. It intends to curb cybercriminal activities and address issues related to trolling, hate speech, and online disinformation, among others.

“The root of the problem is easy access to SIM cards despite our SIM registration law. There is so much disappointment with its implementation. The NTC should prevent criminals from purchasing thousands of SIM cards and really implement the true spirit of the law, which is to allow legitimate people with good intentions to buy SIM cards. I believe the law is adequate and it is in the implementation of the law where the problem lies,” he said.

The NTC said it has already issued verification guidelines to enable telcos to put up a system that would prevent the fraudulent registration of SIMs. These guidelines include comparing submitted data with ID information using advanced technology such as facial recognition and facial matching.

A simulation by the National Privacy Commission, another DICT-attached agency, showed that Smart Communications was the only telco that successfully prevented fraudulent SIM registration.

Gatchalian said if Smart can prevent the fraudulent registration of SIMs, the other telcos should be able to do the same.

“Whatever Smart is doing, the other telcos should be able to do also. They should adopt the same technology,” he said.

“Higpitan pa natin (Let us be more strict). We don’t want fraudulent SIM registration to happen over and over again,” he stressed.

THE Senate is looking to identify gaps and correct loopholes in the government’s late registration system through the conduct of an inquiry on the role of local civil registrars in the issuance of fraudulent birth certificates to foreigners.

In filing Senate Resolution No. 1200, Senators Loren Legarda and Raffy Tulfo seek to come up with measures to prevent the abuse of the late registration system as what was discovered in the cases of Guo Hua Ping, also known as Alice Guo, and Jianxin Yang, or Tony Yang/Antonio Maestrado Lim.

Guo and Yang are at the center of the ongoing Senate Committee on Women probe on crimes associated with the illegal operation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hubs in the country.

Guo has been dismissed as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac for her suspected participation in the operation of two POGO facilities in her municipality.

Yang is the brother of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic adviser, Michael Yang, who has also been linked to illegal POGO operations.

Legarda and Tulfo said the fraudulent acquisition of birth certificates poses a risk to national security as individuals “may exploit their status to engage in espionage, economic sabotage, and other criminal enterprises.”

“There is an urgent need to investigate the role of local government units, in particular, their local civil registries, in the facilitation of these fraudulent transactions, and to assess the adequacy of existing oversight mechanisms to prevent the issuance of falsified documents,” SRN 1200 said.

It also said that the Senate investigation will seek to identify the flaws in the late registration system and come up with measures to prevent them from happening again.

“There is also a pressing need to strengthen safeguards in the birth registration process, especially for late registrations, by ensuring proper verification of identity and citizenship and to impose stricter penalties for fraudulent activities involving government-issued documents,” it said.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that in 2022, 1.3 million births were registered on time, while 127,919 were registered 30 days or more after the date of birth.

The two senators said that while the issuance of birth certificates through late registration has provided Filipinos, especially those in remote areas, with access to vital services and civil rights, the system has been abused by foreigners, mostly Chinese, which undermines the purpose of the program.

The National Bureau of Investigation has said that around 1,200 foreigners believed to be Chinese have fraudulently obtained birth certificates through late registration in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur since 2016.

The National Security Council has also said that corrupt civil registrars have allegedly been receiving bribes to issue fake birth certificates, which are subsequently used to fraudulently obtain Philippine passports.

“The abuse of late birth registration system enables foreign nationals to exploit government-issued documents for various fraudulent activities, evade immigration law, and potentially engage in criminal activities,” Legarda and Tulfo said.

“Data from the PSA shows an alarming number of discrepancies in birth certificate registrations, including 308 instances of fake birth certificates submitted for passport applications between January and September 2023, with six of these belonging to foreign nationals who were issued Philippine passports,” they also said.

SENATE President Francis Escudero yesterday urged the Department of National Defense to clarify what it wants to be amended in the Anti-Espionage Law.

“What do they really want? Because to my understanding, the espionage law is only used during times of war. Our Revised Penal Code has been existing since 1932, and that has not been used to file charges against anyone,” Escudero said in a press conference.

Escudero issued the statement in reaction to a call made by Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro for lawmakers to amend the Anti-Espionage Law so it could be applicable even when the country is not at war.

Teodoro’s call came after Al Jazeera showed a documentary where She Zhijiang, a self-confessed Chinese spy jailed in Thailand, claimed that dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, is also a Chinese spy. Guo has denied the allegation.

Teodoro was not available for comment yesterday.

Escudero said it would be better if Teodoro presented the proposed amendments to Congress.

“It would be good to hear from them. That’s why I telling them to give it to us and tell us what amendments they want so we can study how to improve the law, if ever. The problem with espionage is its element of crime. Was there a state secret stolen? Is it applicable in a local secret of Bamban? Was the secret traded or sent out?” he said.

“Actually, it’ll be a curious amendment if ever, because that is close to a dead-letter law, to my mind, kasi bihira gamitin o baka nga hindi pa nagamit ‘yan (because we seldom or haven’t used that law),” he added.

He said espionage, under the Revised Penal Code, is done in times of war. He noted the country is not at war with any nation.

“How can we say that it is espionage when we are friends to all countries? It is espionage if a friend steals [secrets] from you. Or is it only applicable only to an enemy who stole your secrets? That would be interesting to find out. Actually, that would be a curious debate, if at all, which I look forward to tackling,” Escudero said.

THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPB) yesterday announced motu proprio orders granting increases in daily minimum wages in private establishments in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Soccksargen effective October 17 this year.

The minimum wage increase in these regions was an offshoot of the directive issued by President Marcos Jr. on Labor Day for the “timely review of minimum wages.”

The last wage orders for workers in the private sector and domestic workers in these regions became effective on October 16, 2023.

“The adjustments, which vary per region, were reached through a collaborative consensus and unanimously approved by the members of the respective RWTPDs,” the Department of Labor said in a statement.

In Cagayan Valley, the RTWPB-II granted a P30 daily minimum wage increase across all sectors — from P450 to P480 for the non-agricultural sector and from P430 to P460 for the agricultural sector.

The RTWPB-II said that “kasambahays” or househelps in all the cities and municipalities of Cagayan Valley region will receive a P500 monthly increase, which will raise their wage to P6,000 a month.

In Central Luzon, the RTWPB-III simplified its wage structure to the main sector/industry classifications of non-agriculture, agriculture, and retail and service in the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales.

For non-agriculture establishments with 10 or more workers, the RTWPB-III said the monthly minimum wage increase will be P25 upon the effectivity of the order — from the present P500 a day to P525.  In addition, a P25 daily increase will be in effect on April 16, 2025, which will raise the minimum monthly wage to P550.

Establishments with fewer than 10 workers were ordered to increase wages by P32. From P493, the new daily minimum wage will be P525.

Plantation workers will get a P25 daily increase upon the effectivity of the order on October 17, and another P25 daily increase on April 16 next year. The present daily minimum wage for plantation workers stands at P470.

Workers in the retail/service establishments with more than 10 workers will receive an additional P26 a day upon the effectivity of the order, and another P25 a day on April 16 next year. The present daily minimum wage for this sector stands at P489.

Retail/service establishments with fewer than 10 workers will increase by P40 the daily wages of their workers — from P475 to P515 a day.

In Aurora province, which is also under the Central Luzon region, non-agriculture establishments will increase by P26 their workers’ daily wage on October 17, and by P25 daily on April 16 next year. From P449 a day, the workers’ wages will be P500 a day by April 16.

Plantation workers will also get an increase of P26 and P25, respectively —from the present P434 to P485 by April 16 next year.

Non-plantation workers will be given a P38 daily increase to their P434 daily minimum wage while the retail/service sector will also increase their workers’ wages by P26 and P25, respectively — from P384 a day to P435 a day by April 16, 2025.

In Soccksargen, non-agriculture workers’ wages of P403 a day will be P417, an increase of P14 a day. An additional P13 a day will take effect on January 1 next year, which will bring their wages to P430.

The P382 minimum daily wage of workers in the retail/service sectors will be P396 by October 17 due to the additional P14 a day. Their wages will be increased by P14 effective January 1, 2025, P10 on April 1, and another P10 on June 1, which will bring to P430 their daily minimum wage by June next year.

Agriculture workers in the SOCCKSARGEN region will have two P14-a-day increases — one on October 17 and another on January 1. From the present wage of P382, their income per day will be P410 effective on the first day of 2025.

The RTWPB said the new rates for workers in private establishments translate to around a 7 percent to 15 percent increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in these regions and result in a comparable 7 percent to 12 percent increase in wage-related benefits covering 13th-month pay, pay incentive leave, and social security benefits such as SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG.

“The wage orders are expected to directly benefit a total of 905,000 minimum wage earners in these regions and about 1.7 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also directly benefit as a result of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortion,” the DOLE said.

SENATE President Francis Escudero yesterday called for the early transmittal to the Senate of the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) which was approved by the House of Representatives before Congress went on recess last September 27.

Escudero, in a press briefing, urged the House to send to the Senate its approved version of the 2025 national budget earlier than October 25 to give senators more time to scrutinize it.

“Ayon sa Kamara, isa-submit nila ang GAB o General Appropriations Bill sa October 25. Sabi ko, baka puwedeng mas maaga, kung kaya, para mas ma-review na naming (The House of Representatives said it will submit the General Appropriations Bill on October 25. I asked them if it is possible to transmit it at a much earlier time so we will have more time to review it),” Escudero said.

Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, has earlier said that the House has committed to transmit the GAB by October 25.

The House approved on third and final reading

the proposed P6.352 trillion national budget for next year on the evening of September 25 after holding marathon committee hearings and plenary discussions on Malacañang’s spending request.

Escudero said that if the GAB cannot be transmitted earlier, the October 25 timetable is still acceptable.

Escudero said that once sessions resume on November 4, the Poe-led finance panel is expected to file its committee report and, hopefully, sponsor it in the plenary the following day.

Interpellation on the national budget’s general principles is tentatively set on November 5 or 6, which will then be followed by floor deliberations on the proposed budgets of government agencies and offices.

“Inaasahan naming ma-aaprubahan yun sa loob ng hindi lalampas ng dalawang linggo (We expect to pass it [budget] within two weeks),” Escudero said, adding that plenary debates will be held from morning to night to fasttrack the deliberations.

Members of the bicameral conference committee traditionally take around two weeks to iron out the differing provisions in the Senate and House versions of the budget bill.

Escudero said they are hoping to send the final version of the 2025 GAB for the President’s signature before Congress goes on break for the holidays on December 21.

SENATE President Francis “Chiz’ Escudero yesterday said the high trust rating he received as the Senate leader can be attributed to the “hard work” of his colleagues and the “entire Senate institution.”

He said the latest Pulse Asia survey where he got a trust rating of 60 percent was due to “the commitment of the Senate to pass pieces of legislation that matter to the people and to shed light on issues that affect good governance and the rule of law.”

“We thank the people for recognizing the work being done here in the Senate. My commitment as Senate President is to ensure the Senate continues to work for the people–passing legislation to make the lives of our people easier, help us move faster and make our people’s burdens lighter,” Escudero said.

In the September 6 to 13, 2024 nationwide survey of Pulse Asia on the performance and trustworthiness of top national government officials, Escudero got a majority approval rating of 60 percent among the respondents, the highest mark recorded in the poll.

Escudero was the only one of four top government officials who received a majority approval rating from respondents across all three geographic areas of the country.

He also received the lowest disapproval rating of 8 percent, the only top government official below the double-digit mark.

After Escudero took over as Senate President last May, a total of 137 bills have been approved by the Senate, 14 of which have been enacted into law.

“We wasted no time in acting on a significant number of the priority legislation of the Marcos administration. Several of these bills that are also part of the common legislative agenda of Congress are in the advanced stages of discussions. We commit to work on the remaining bills–both national and local–in the remaining session days of the 19th Congress,” Escudero said.

Escudero also attributed the good performance of the Senate to the improvement in the relationship between the chamber and the House of Representatives.

SENATE majority leader Francis Tolentino yesterday said President Marcos Jr. has urged the Senate to give priority to the passage of the Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Program to prepare the youth for service opportunities in the Armed Forces.

Tolentino said the President gave the Senate the “signal to go for it” during the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting in Malacanang last week.

“In the past LEDAC meetings, it [the Mandatory ROTC Bill] was classified to be in Tier 2 or Level 2. But now the Presidente gave the signal to go for it, that’s why it is now already under Level 1, this is one of our priorities now,” Tolentino told radio dzBB.

He said the House of Representatives has passed the bill on the third and final reading, while the Senate is still in the period of interpellation, with two more senators set to interpolate.

“That can be tackled once Congress resumes regular sessions [on November 4). We are just discussing possible amendments on the transitory period — either one or two years,” he said, adding it would be better if the President certified the measure as urgent.

Once the bill becomes a law, Tolentino said the Mandatory ROTC Program will be included in the college curriculum which will be a requisite for graduation.

He said first-year college students will undergo basic training, which includes disaster preparedness and management, civic and environmental training, while students will undergo advanced training programs the next year.

Tolentino said students who wish to go even further can avail of the optional executive ROTC program which will cover specialization on cybersecurity matters, courses on how to become a pilot for those under the Air Force branch, and naval warfare for those under the Navy, among others.

“There will be specialization programs for 3rd-year college students, but they are optional,” he said.

He said that graduates of the Mandatory ROTC program automatically become part of the country’s reserve force and will automatically be officers of the Armed Forces once they decide to enter the military service.

Tolentino said the Mandatory ROTC Program will increase the number of reserve officers in the country.

He also said that the civilian vessels entering the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea are loaded with Chinese militias.

“China’s militias are its reservists. The ones we see entering our EEZ are just their reservists. The Philippines has around 107,000 reservists, with some of them already aging. So, do we not want to increase their numbers? China has a very big reserve component but it does not mean that we will clash with them,” he added.

He said having more reservists would mean more officers and officials in the Armed Forces.

“Graduates of the 3rd year Mandatory ROTC Program can be directly commissioned in the military. We lack officers, and there are only around 300 cadets who graduate from the Philippine Military Academy each year. Our soldiers also retire. So, who will be in charge of protecting our territorial integrity, and security if we do not have enough soldiers? It is enshrined in the Constitution that every Filipino has the right to serve in any military branch,” he said.

Tolentino said he is confident that the Senate would pass the proposed measure even if several senators, including Senate President Francis Escudero, are against its passage.

THE Senate passed 137 pieces of legislation during the first 100 days of Sen. Francis Escudero as the upper chamber’s president.

Escudero said the measures were approved from May 20 to September 26.

“It’s a scoreboard we can be truly proud of,” Escudero said, adding that of the 137 bills approved, 62 were of national application and 75 of local concerns which were tackled in the 26 session days since the Senate convened the 3rd Regular Session of the 19th Congress on July 22.

Escudero thanked his colleagues and employees of the Senate for their hard work and initiatives, and for putting particular focus on legislation that would help simplify the processes in governance, uplift the lives of the Filipino people, improve the economy, and bolster the country’s sovereignty.

He said that while several committees have been busy holding hearings on various controversies, the senators found time to craft and pass important pieces of legislations.

Of the Senate bills approved under his watch, Escudero said 13 have been signed by President Marcos Jr. into law.

He said the remaining priority measures of the administration are on the “advanced stages of discussions” and will be approved when Congress resumes session on November 4.

Both houses of Congress will be officially on recess starting today to give members who are seeking re-election the chance to file their Certificates of Candidacies for next year’s midterm elections.

The House will also take advantage of the adjournment to print its approved version of the budget bill, which it passed on third and final reading on Wednesday night.

Escudero said the General Appropriations Bill will be the Senate’s priority when they return to work in November.

“Our target is to pass the budget early to give the President ample time to review it,” he added.

Among the bills passed by the Senate are 12 of the priority bills of the Marcos Administration, including the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, which President Marcos signed recently; the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, which was signed yesterday; the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy or CREATE MORE, Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act, the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Act, VAT on Digital Services, and the Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act.

The Amendments to the Agricultural Tariffication Act, Blue Economy Act, and the Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act are up for discussion in the bicameral conference committee.

To ensure there would be no disruption in the budget deliberations, Escudero initiated an agreement with the Philippine International Convention Center for the use of its function rooms for the conduct of other inquiries in aid of legislation by different committees as needed, as part of the Senate’s oversight function to ensure checks and balances in government.

“We have around 41 session days left before the end of the 19th Congress. We’re looking at passing as many of the priority bills of the President as possible with the little time left on our calendar. Many of these are already in the advanced stages of the legislative process. Rest assured the Senate will work overtime to pass these measures,” Escudero said.

The priority bills currently up for second reading are the following: SBN 2821, or the Amendments to the Right of Way Act; SBN 2826, or the Mining Fiscal Regime; SBN 2771, or the National Water Resources Management Act; SBN 2781, or the E-Governance Act; SBN 2699, or the “Konektadong Pinoy” bill; SBN 2474, or the Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel; SBN 2034, or the Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC); and SBN 2267, or the Waste-to-Energy bill.

Under Escudero’s leadership, the chamber also launched the Senate Assist online platform that aims to simplify access to medical and social assistance programs of the senators, in collaboration with government agencies, public health institutions and the private sector.

Initiated by the Senate Spouses Foundation, Inc., which is headed by Heart Evangelista-Escudero, the Senate Assist portal will allow individuals who require assistance to submit their requests 24/7 from anywhere in the country.