Press Release
July 4, 2007

Jinggoy vows to pass bills authored by former Sen. Loi Estrada

Opposition stalwart Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada had filed more than 440 bills in the Senate's Bill and Index division, including the 150 proposed measures authored by his mother former Sen. Luisa "Loi" Ejercito Estrada.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said that he had promised his mother that he will pursue the passage of her pending bills that she had previously filed in the Senate.

"I will continue the advocacy of my mother and help establish her legacy to create a better life for ordinary Filipinos," Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said. Sen. Loi Estrada did not run for re-election in the May 14 polls and is now retired. He said that among the bills that he will pursue in behalf of his mother are the measures related to health, the protection of the environment and human rights.

Estrada said among the measures that were earlier proposed by Sen. Loi Estrada is the proposed bill seeking to lower the prices of drugs for major diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and kidney disease that are very expensive which the Pilipino masses cannot afford.

He said that in the coming 14th Congress he will be working very hard for the passage of at least his top 10 bills that include the measures to exempt from the value added tax the medicine purchased by senior citizens, upgrade the benefits and incentives of barangay tanods, mandate the Department of Health to provide at least one health worker in every barangay and a bill to revive the Philippine movie industry by providing incentives to the proprietors, operators of theaters and cinemas.

Estrada's proposed bills also include the measures to abolish the penalty of imprisonment in libel cases, to expand the government's scholarship program for poor students and to penalize acts of torture and involuntary disappearance of arrested suspects.

Among the other priority bills of Sen. Estrada are: the bills seeking to promote the welfare of and providing protection to journalists through the establishment of the Magna Carta for Journalists, and the creation of the Magna Carta for the Philippine National Police.

Estrada said that the coming Congress is crucial for the development of the country and to provide more benefits to the people.

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