New PH Laws

Before I begin writing this article, I would like to say that I am not an expert in Philippine government laws, although I try to be aware of such, especially the new ones that benefit the people I care for.

In this article, I will only select certain laws that I think are relevant to many people today. I won't even bother those asking to rename the airport of the Philippines into something else, well, it's just a bill, but hey, aren't there other bills which are much more worthy of submission? Anyway, going back, I will mention each law, the principal authors, and a brief explanation of what is it about.

So, let's start.

1. Republic Act 11930: Anti-Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Children (OSAEC) Law

   • Principal Author and Sponsor: Sen. Risa Hontiveros

   • This is amending Republic Act 9775 or otherwise known as the "Anti-Pornography Act", which gives more protection to minors against online exploitation and sexual abuse. I think this is very important nowadays since there's a plethora of cases where adults are grooming minors to have a "sexual and/or romantic relationship, produce sexual materials, etc." - provided that these are all done online". Those who support, subscribe and watch these kinds of materials will be punished as well. Moreover, it also puts pressure on internet service providers (and other similar companies) to level up their restrictions on such content.

2. Republic Act 11898: Extended Producer Responsibility Act

   • Principal Sponsor: Sen. Cynthia Villar

   • This is an amendment to Republic Act 9003 or otherwise known as the "Ecological Solid Waste Management Act". This amendment to the law now requires major companies to "adopt and implement policies for the proper management of plastic packaging wastes". In other words, these companies are given the responsibility to recover their waste packaging materials, or if not able to, to pay a fine. I think this is one good way to help slow down the filling up of wastes in landfills. I know this will be hard as the Philippines is known to have a "sachet economy", because of its affordability to the masses, yet this massive number of sachets also means lots and lots of plastic packaging that is going everywhere. So, this law will also make the companies and manufacturers rethink of ways on which they can reduce the use of plastic packages while maintaining the affordability of their products to the masses.

3. Republic Act No. 11909: Permanent Validity of the Certificates of Live Birth, Death, and Marriage Act

   • Principal Author: Former Sen. Kiko Pangilinan

   • I think this is one of the most practical bills that was ever passed into law. It
     seems very simple, but its repercussions are tremendously incredible, especially for those who need such documents at any given time for any given circumstance. Imagine, you don't need to apply for a new copy of your PSA-certified birth certificate when you want to apply for passport or enroll in a university or submit it as a requirement in your new work/job. If in case you need to have copies of these documents again, you don't need to go to the office concerned or satellite offices and pay multiple times just to get the "validated" copy because it will be for permanent validity. Now, you won't need to guess which is the valid copy of your PSA-Certificate of Live Birth documents based on their colors.

4. Republic Act 11927: Digital Workforce Competitiveness Act

   • Author/Sponsor: Sen. Joel Villanueva

   • This law makes a lot of sense because we all know that there's a need for Filipinos to become globally competitive, especially in the workforce. This law mandates the creation of an Inter-Agency Council for Development and Competitiveness of the Philippine Digital Workforce. This agency is tasked to develop, implement, and also enhance programs that are focused on the digital competitiveness of the workforce.

   Keeping this a short list for now. There are other more interesting bills that were already passed into law. If you're interested to know, please let me know in the comments section.

   References

   • CNN Philippines. (2022, August 3). Over 100 bills in 18th Congress lapse into law. What are the notable ones taking effect soon? cnnphilippines.com. https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/8/3/Congress-lapse-law-.html

   • Fernandez, D. (2022, August 2). Permanent validity of birth, death, marriage certificates bill lapses into law. Philippines Top Stories: Politics, Environment, Education, Trending | Inquirer.net. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1639394/permanent-validity-of-birth-death-marriage-certificates-bill-lapses-into-law

   • Senate of the Philippines. (2022). Digital Workforce Competitiveness Act gets Senate nod. https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2022/0531_villanueva1.asp