PASAY CITY -- The Senate on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, has unanimously adopted a resolution expressing the chamber’s profound sympathy and sincere condolences on the death of former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
Senate Resolution No. (SRN) 760, taking into consideration SRN 761, 762, 763, 764 and 765, honors the life and legacy of Aquino, also known as PNoy. Aquino, the 15th Philippine President, died on June 24, 2021 at the age of 61. He served as Representative of the 2nd District of Tarlac from 1998 to 2007, and Senator from 2007 to 2010.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III in his co-sponsorship of the measures, cited Aquino for anchoring his administration on the fight against corruption.
“His reform agenda is to get rid of the culture of corruption to alleviate poverty for an equitable, progressive Philippines. Guided by this agenda, the country made tremendous economic growth beneficial to the nation,” Sotto said.
He said from an inflation rate of 4.11 percent when he assumed office, Aquino was able to bring inflation all the way down to 0.67 percent by 2015 and the country’s Gross Domestic Product grew by an average pace of 6.2 percent yearly from 2010 to 2015.
Sen. Joel Villanueva, principal author of SRN 760, honored Aquino as a great man, transformational leader, and the nation’s hero “who devoted all his life to his one and only true love, the Filipino people.” Villanueva also recalled his time as member of the Aquino cabinet in 2010 to 2015 as director-general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“Personally, I thank PNoy for supporting tech-voc, making it an instrument for national progress; and if I was TESDA Man, he was the TESDA Godfather,” Villanueva said.
In his co-sponsorship speech, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said he is thankful for the opportunity of having worked with President Aquino during his incumbency for having the responsibility of steering the upper chamber as Senate President during the second half of the Aquino administration.
Drilon also named some of the landmark laws that the Senate passed during the term of Aquino “that changed the future of the nation and the lives of our countrymen,” including the GOCC Governance Act, the Responsible and Productive Parenthood Health Act, the Sin Tax Reform Law, the Philippine Competition Act, the Amendments to the Cabotage Law, the Law Allowing Full Entry of Foreign Banks into the Country, the Act Amending the Foreign Investments Negative List, the Tax Incentives Monitoring and Transparency Act (TIMTA), the Go Negosyo Law, the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the Act Increasing the Tax Exemption Cap for the 13th Month Pay and Other Benefits from the Php 30,000 level to Php 82,000; the K to 12 Act, the Iskolar ng Bayan Act, the Unified Student Financial Assistance System (UNIFAST), the Ladderized Education Act, the Open Learning and Distance Education Act, and the Open High School Systems Act.
The resolution also pays tribute to the Aquino administration’s filing of the landmark South China Sea Arbitration Case and for winning it in the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague, The Netherlands. The said ruling recognized the maritime entitlements of the Republic of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Aquino was also credited for successfully expanding the coverage of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program from 786,523 poor households in June 2010 to 4.4 million in June 2016.
Senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros, Grace Poe, Francis “Tol” Tolentino, Sonny Angara, Pia Cayetano, and Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also delivered their sponsorship and co-sponsorship speeches on the resolutions during Tuesday’s plenary session. All senators were also made-co-authors and co-sponsors of the measures. (Senate PRIB)
