Alagang Angara

Increasing the social pension of indigent senior citizens will be a top priority of Senator Sonny Angara if he is reelected to Senate for another six-year term.

Angara, one of the authors of Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, said the social pension provided for under the law must be doubled from the current P500 to P1,000 per month, and its coverage should be expanded to include those without any form of pension.

Renaming Compostela Valley to Davao de Oro is “happening very soon,” according to reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara.

“It’s just a matter of time before Davao de Oro becomes a reality,” said Angara, whose political campaign on Wednesday will take him to Compostela Valley—the only province in Davao Region which does not have Davao in its name just yet.

Davao region is composed of five provinces—Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur and Davao Occidental.

Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara is appealing to small-scale miners to help build the country’s foreign exchange buffer by selling their gold haul directly to the government instead of the black market.

Angara said that small-scale miners could soon avail of tax exemptions if they sell their gold to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) with the impending enactment of the so-called “Gold Bill,” which he authored and sponsored as chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.

Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara urged the government to guarantee the safety and security of all Filipinos in Libya amid escalating military tensions there, as he appealed to workers in the North African country to heed the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) call for their voluntary repatriation to the Philippines.

Now that the bill granting the 20-percent student fare discount is on President Duterte’s desk for his signature, reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara believes it will become a law in time for the return of students from the provinces for the school opening in June.

Now that public education is free from kindergarten to college, reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara urged students to take their studies seriously and work toward becoming productive citizens.

“As students, your responsibility is to study hard because that’s your passport to employment and good life,” Angara said, as the academic year came to an end. “Education is a great socioeconomic equalizer and a stepping stone to something higher and brighter.”

An umbrella organization of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and a 46-year-old institution caring for the differently abled have thrown their weight behind the reelection bid of Senator Sonny Angara, who pushed for laws championing the interests and welfare of the PWD community.

Citing Angara’s “invaluable work and dedication for the PWD community,” the Alyansa ng May Kapansanang Pinoy (AKAP-Pinoy) and the Tahanang Walang Hagdan Inc. (TWHI) issued separate statements endorsing the candidacy of the lawmaker from Aurora province who is running under the platform “Alagang Angara.”

Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara said the government must harness the potential of a coastal town in Quezon province as an international seaport to attract investments that will create massive employment opportunities not just for the province, but for the entire CALABARZON region.

With its strategic location, Angara said the municipality of Gumaca in southern Quezon could position itself as an important gateway to Asia in the South China Sea, locally known as West Philippine Sea.

Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara said the government must continue to provide tax incentives to companies in special economic zones (SEZs) if it wants to attract and retain large-scale investments that will create more job opportunities for the host population.

“Aside from the quality of workforce in the country, local and foreign investors establish their businesses in our SEZs because they get to enjoy a slew of tax incentives that they could not find elsewhere,” Angara said.

Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara said there should be no delay in the release of the cash benefits under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the government’s flagship anti-poverty alleviation initiative to ease the plight of some 4.4 million active household beneficiaries.