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Loren on her 50th birthday: Service above all
January 31, 2010 3:00 PM
Senator Loren B. Legarda turned 50 last Thursday, but instead of a grand birthday bash, she chose instead to celebrate the occasion with a flurry of activities in San Pablo City on Saturday.
Among the activities held was a jobs fair, with local and even foreign employers on hand to entertain jobseekers and receive job applications.
“We are delivering services to the people and I’m happy because that’s what the people want. It’s not enough that you speak onstage and feed the people. There were many young people in attendance, even registered nurses and accounting graduates looking for jobs. They are graduates of good schools. They really need jobs. We’re doing job matching,” Loren said.
Apart from the jobs fair, Loren conducted an Eye Camp with free eye check-ups and free eyeglasses for senior citizens. Also on hand were doctors and dentists to render medical and dental services.
A staunch environmentalist, Loren also showed documentaries on climate change to San Pablo City residents.
“All this is part of Lingkod Loren. We will also do this in Iloilo next week,” Loren disclosed.
Interviewed on radio about the Expanded Senior Citizens Act which she authored, Loren said: “I hope the President signs it. We put in a lot of hard work here. I filed that in the Senate two years ago. We must be fair because the original discount for senior citizens is 20 percent. When we had E-VAT, this was reduced to 8 percent. We corrected this so senior citizens can enjoy the full 20% discount.”
As to Malacañang’s reported hesitance to sign the bill because it could reduce revenues, Loren replied: “If we have better tax collection they can easily offset the losses. My point here is, we’re just being fair to the senior citizens’ sector. It’s about time we give senior citizens who are in their twilight years all the benefits and privileges they deserve.”
On the anticipated prolonged dry spell caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, Legarda urged government to immediately rehabilitate existing irrigation facilities and put up small water impounding dams.
“We must conserve and recycle water to avert a water crisis. Let us not wait for March or April. We must also plant more trees in various areas,” Loren said.
“We must have alternative livelihood for farmers who stand to be adversely affected by the drought. If our farmers have lower production, they will earn less income,” Loren added.
“The election campaign is a good opportunity to discuss environmental issues. The candidates will be asked: What have you done for the environment? How many trees have you planted? What laws have you passed for the environment? What have you done for the farmers? What livelihood programs have you put up? These are the questions our people will ask during the campaign, and we should answer them,” Loren said.
