Guiao meets Kapampangan media. Photo by Bong Lacson
CLARK FREEPORT – Neophyte congressman Joseller “Yeng” Guiao (1st District-Pampanga) has barely warmed his seat in the House of Representatives but already, he has filed five bills calling them his priority measures.
Guiao announced this at the Balitaan forum of the Capampangan In Media, Inc. at the Bale Balita here last Friday.
Guiao said two of the bills were intended for the enhancement of this freeport – the conversion of both Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) into authorities. He said the two bills were already assigned to concerned committees in the House.
He said it is imperative to convert both CDC and CIAC into authorities to shield the two agencies from political maneuverings and to set the course of their development without fear of reprisal from the powers that be.
Guiao, the former vice governor of Pampanga, said he also filed a bill that will mark a commemorative holiday of the Mount Pinatubo eruption or Pinatubo Day. This will preferably be on June 15 of each year, he said.
A bill was also filed by Guiao enjoining the flying of the Philippine flag at half-mast in school in the event of the death of a teacher of the school where she/he taught.
Another bill Guiao filed is that prohibiting the parading of suspects or suspect in press conferences to avoid trial by publicity. “There are a lot of cases where the suspect or suspects turned up to be the wrong guys but their reputations were already besmirched because they were presented as suspects in a press conference,” he reasoned.
Meanwhile, Guiao said he is also working for the strict implementation of the one percent internal revenue allotment (IRA) allocated for senior citizens which is divided into 0.5 percent for senior citizen and 0.5 percent for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Guiao said most of the time, local government units fail to allocate the funds to senior citizens and PWDs because there is no penalty under the law.
