While Manny Pacquiao has yet to disclose his overall legislative agenda pending the filing of his Certificate of Candidacy for senator, he has mentioned some of his priority bills that he would push once elected to the Philippine senate.
Among others Pacquiao wants to craft a law that would require Filipino athletes to play for the national team or to represent the country if requested in the Olympic games or in major international and regional competitions. Pacquiao cited the cases of Jun Mar Fajardo, L.A. Tenorio and Paul Lee, among others who beg off from the recent Gilas FIBA Asia Championship. Filipino athletes who refuse to play for the national team do not deserve to be called Filipinos, said Pacquiao, who has earlier announced his candidacy in the upcoming senatorial elections. “Kung hindi ka magre-respond sa tawag ng bandila, kung hindi ka susunod, hindi mo dapat sinasabi na Pilipino ka,” he said. (If you will not respond to the call of the flag, if you will not follow, you should not call yourself a Filipino), he said. Aside from the sports-related bills that he intends to pursue if elected to the senate, Pacquiao is also pushing for the revision of tax rates that have been cumbersome to middle class salary earners and majority of the Filipino masses. Pacquiao also intends to work on the revision or amendment of the Salary Standardization Law so that civil servants can have better pay. In the House of Representatives, Pacquiao has authored at 26 bills including among others, the establishment of breast care center nationwide, establishment of community fitness center in all barangays, granting of 180 days leave benefits to women workers in government and the private sector and free Internet access to all students in colleges in universities in the country. These bills are pending and under deliberations in various committee levels in the lower house. Obviously Pacquiao will continue to work on the passage of these pieces of legislation when he gets elected to the senate. Pacquiao has attended only four sessions in the last congress as he had to train for his fights whenever there are sessions in congress. But congressional leaders have excused him from attending sessions because he also brings pride and honors to the country whenever he fights abroad.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/sports/what-manny-pacquiao-intends-to-do-if-elected-senator/article/446034#ixzz3o3GowLQd
