THE Senate Minority leader and a former ranking senator pushed at the weekend for urgent passage of a “designated survivor bill”  which had been left pending in the last Congress, but the absence of which could trigger a crisis in a worst-case scenari...

SENATORS over the weekend urged China to rescind her reported new regulation allowing the Chinese Coast Guard to detain “trespassers,” while prodding the Department of Foreign Affairs to immediately validate the report and act accordingly.

SENATOR Sherwin T. Gatchalian, in filing an enabling resolution, clears the way for an inquiry into the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s imposition of a 25-percent withholding tax and 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on all cross-border services rendered ...

SENATOR Sherwin T. Gatchalian bared an over P7-billion Senior High School (SHS) voucher program funds spent on non-poor beneficiaries.

Inefficiencies in supply and market chains as well as inadequacies in policies and governance continue to limit corn productivity, according to Senator Cynthia A. Villar.

SENATOR Manuel “Lito” M. Lapid has expressed concern over the proliferation of advertisements on online gambling on different social media platforms in the country.

A bill transferring the control and supervision of provincial and sub-provincial jails to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in order to enhance efficiency of jails nationwide and unburden local government units hurdled third and final ...

Voting 23-0-0, the Senate on Monday voted on third and final reading to approve the measure defining the Philippines’s maritime zones, advancing its status as a member of the international community’s rules-based system under the 1982 United Conventio...

SEN. Mark A. Villar sponsored on the floor last Wednesday night the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act or Afasa, drawing quick support from most senators.

A GROUP of Filipinos operating under the Patronato system in Italy—providing documentation assistance to would-be seasonal workers—have asked Sen. Raffy Tulfo not to lump all of them with the illegal recruiters now facing charges both in Milan and Man...

THREE key resource persons invited by a Senate subcommittee hearing on Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 regarding Charter change weighed in against amending the 1987 Constitution now.

SENATE President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri assured the Filipino people on Monday that the Senate will work for “the best possible outcome for the people” as it deliberates on the proposals to amend certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments filed on Monday a resolution seeking to finally address the long-standing issue of whether the Senate and House of Representatives should vote separately or jointly in amending the 1987...

Amid calls for a full inquiry into the January 2 power outages on Panay island, a veteran legislator has urged all concerned, including lawmakers, to consider the “whole picture” before simply pinning the blame on the main transmission company, the Na...

AS promised, lawmakers are pursuing the initiative to redress the inconsistency between the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) law and its implementing rules and regulations (IRR); and similar gaps in the value-added tax (V...

THE Philippine electorate is moving towards political neutrality, as gleaned from the results of the PAHAYAG End of Year (P-EOY2023) Survey, which shed light on the evolving political sentiments in the Philippines.

SEN. Panfilo Lacson said Friday the non-veto of a controversial P450 billion item tucked in additional “Unprogrammed Appropriations” in the 2024 budget could set a “bad precedent,” as he aired concerns over its impact on efforts to keep the ...

THE economy remained a “top concern” as shown by a year-end survey conducted by PAHAYAG from November 29 to December 4, providing valuable insights into prevailing concerns of macro and micro concerns among Filipino voters.

THE Senate Committee on Health and Demography, chaired by Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, on Monday led senators in questioning Department of Health (DOH) officials to assess government readiness to promptly contain the global rise of respiratory illne...

Senator Chiz Escudero assured employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) their salaries and benefits will remain intact and untouched even with the inclusion of a provision in 2024 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) that allows the reimbursement of th...

FORMER Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, who also served as Secretary of the Department of Justice in a previous administration, declared over the weekend he saw nothing illegal in the decision of Congress to increase the “unprogrammed funds” in th...

Senator Grace Poe prompted the Department of Agriculture (DA) to take an active role in making policies and programs for the promotion of animal welfare in the country.

The Senate on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution celebrating the country’s ties with Norway.

SENATE President Juan Miguel Zubiri, addressing international lawmakers attending the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) in Manila, prodded the visiting delegates to “opt for cooperative security approach.”

THE Senate Committee on Finance adopted Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian’s proposal to increase the budget for the implementation of the Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), a nationwide household-based poll of data on basic and...

Senator Grace Poe, conveying concerns to ensure clean water supplied to consumers, pressed Congress to frontload passage of an enabling law creating the proposed Department of Water, reminding that “the country’s water woes are too big to be met by fr...

SENATORS on Wednesday expressed full support for an investigation initiated by the Office of the Ombudsman into revelations that aliens, specifically POGO workers, have been able to get identification documents supposedly limited to Filipino citizens.

A COST-BENEFIT analysis by government economists has put the estimated loss to the republic from  the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo)  at over P14 billion, defeating the argument of its economic value while worsening reputational...

Senate probers of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Public Accountability were prodded to dig deeper into a lucrative passport racket involving foreign nationals.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, citing microgrids to boost full electrification nationwide, commended the Department of Energy’s (DOE) launch of its competitive selection process (CSP) for microgrid systems providers (MGSP), citing the move as  “a su...

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board on Thursday approved over P57 billion worth of projects, which are expected to improve the country’s agriculture supply chain and maritime security.

SENATORS on Tuesday promptly moved to investigate a security breach from their executive session on Monday where, as leaked reports said, they discussed among others the request of certain agencies for confidential and intelligence funds.

THE dropping of several key infrastructure projects that would have been funded by China represents an opportunity loss to the Philippines, the Senate Ways and Means committee chief believes. And Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian believes the better terms fro...

SENATOR Sherwin T. Gatchalian is urgently pleading with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for the complete and immediate banning of Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the wake of a shocking revelation exposing a POGO hub’s alleged involvem...

THE chairman of the Senate Defense committee is supporting the plans of the Executive to file a case against China for environmental damage to Philippine reefs and corals, saying the issue at stake “transcends territorial claims and disputes” because t...

The post Senate approves Magna Carta for seafarers on second, third readings first appeared on BusinessMirror.

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, principal sponsor and author of the Doktor Para sa Bayan law, assured the timely passage of related bills creating five additional medical schools expected to mitigate a looming “shortage of doctors” in order to ...

Telcos and regulators—as well as law enforcement agencies—are under pressure to improve the implementation of the SIM Registration Act, with the chief author of the measure pushing back against those who view the problem as rooted in the law.