By Sonny Angara Over the years, the country has done a lot to improve its internal processes as part of its efforts to bring in more investments. We continuously introduce new policies and pass new laws to support these efforts, specifically to streamline the procedures for doing business in the country. We constantly make public …
Better Days
Asia’s fastest-growing companies
By Sonny Angara The Financial Times, together with Nikkei Asia and Statista recently came out with its ranking of High-Growth Companies in the Asia-Pacific region. To be included in the list, a company must meet the following criteria — generated revenue of at least $1 million in 2019; must be an independent company, meaning it …
The case for artificial intelligence
By Sonny Angara Imagine this. On your next grocery trip, you pick up an item listed on your shopping list. You put it in your bag. And then you walk out of the store to accomplish the rest of your day’s errands. In this instance, no crime was committed because the product you picked up …
A learners’ crisis
By Sonny Angara Recently, news articles came out about a very disconcerting World Bank assessment on Philippine education. Specifically, the report underscored that one in every four Grade 5 students does not have the reading and mathematics skills for Grade 2 or 3, and four in every five 15-year-old students do not understand basic mathematical …
A fitting tribute for our seafarers
By Sonny Angara After languishing in the legislative mill for over a decade, the bill institutionalizing a Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, which we co-sponsored, has finally reached the plenary debates in the Senate. We laud Senator Joel Villanueva, the chairman of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources, for his hard work …
A new dawn for Marawi City
By Sonny Angara This October 23 marks the ninth year since Marawi City was freed from the lawless elements who sought to turn the locality into a wilayat or an “administrative division” of the ISIS caliphate. On that day, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana declared the city’s liberation marking the end of armed hostilities and violence …
Gearing up new youth programs
By Sonny Angara We chaired a Senate committee on youth public hearing on measures that we believe could have a tremendous impact on young Filipinos, many of whom, for the past two years, have spent a considerable portion of their time indoors, and isolated from crowds and gatherings. Our country’s ramped up vaccination program and …
Towards a more inclusive education system
By Sonny Angara The Senate ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the “Inclusive Education” Act, which aims to institutionalize a policy of inclusion and services for learners with disabilities (LWD) across the country’s education sector. The measure languished in the legislative mill for many years. No less than my late father, former Senate President …
Decongesting Philippine prisons
By Sonny Angara During the public hearing on the budgets of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its attached agencies, the Senate was updated on the alarming congestion rate of our jails and penal institutions. For one, the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), our national penitentiary, has a congestion rate of 344 percent. In exact figures, …
Job promotions for our teachers
By Sonny Angara A 2011 study by Harvard and Columbia University economists found that a good teacher — measured by how well their students improved in terms of test scores — imparts lifelong benefits. Using data on 2.5 million individuals over 20 years in a large urban district in the United States, the researchers concluded …