Alagang Angara

With more Filipinos now putting their money in banks, Senator Sonny Angara is looking to hike the deposit insurance coverage provided by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) from the present P500,000 to P1 million per depositor.

Under Senate Bill 2089 filed by Angara, further amendments to the charter of the PDIC will be introduced in order to make it more responsive to the constantly changing financial landscape in the country.

Senator Sonny Angara said today that any plan to resume face-to-face learning should be done with extreme caution since the risk of contracting COVID-19 still exists in the country.

Angara said he also wants to see children back learning in school, which he said would ease a lot of stress and pressure off both the students and their parents who have been forced to cope with blended learning due to the pandemic.

The Senate has approved on third and final reading the bill that would facilitate the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines by the government.

Senator Sonny Angara, who sponsored Senate Bill 2057 as chairman of the Committee on Finance, welcomed the speedy approval of the measure, which he said will remove the obstacles to the delivery of some of the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the country and hasten the inoculation of Filipinos across the country.

A total of 22 senators voted to approve the measure, with no negative votes and no abstentions.

To help increase the supply of vaccines and other critical and essential supplies needed by the country in the fight against COVID-19, Senator Sonny Angara has filed a bill seeking to exempt donations of these goods from the donor’s tax.

Now that the supply of COVID-19 vaccines is becoming widely available for purchase by the government and the private sector, Angara said donations of these life-saving drugs and the supplies and equipment needed for its administration, delivery and storage should no longer be taxed.

Senator Sonny Angara said today there is a need to pay more attention to the situation of out of school youth (OSY), particularly at this time when their numbers are growing due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education.

As chairman of the Committee on Youth, Angara noted that the increase in the number of OSY is a serious issue that could lead to bigger problems later on if left unchecked.

Based on data from the Department of Education (DepEd), close to four million students were not able to enroll for the current school year.

Senator Sonny Angara reiterated his call for more businesses to go online or digital in order to remain competitive under the new normal and to provide a much needed boost to the economy.

To bolster the country’s efforts in developing and implementing e-government services, Senator Sonny Angara said that local government units (LGUs) should take the lead in digital transformation for the public sector.

Angara noted how the shift to digital or online services has accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and “government cannot afford to be left behind.”

Senator Sonny Angara views with concern the unilateral abrogation by the Department of National Defense (DND) of the 1989 agreement between the DND and the University of the Philippines (UP). 

As a proud product of UP himself, Angara notes how the State University has long been a bastion of academic freedom—where individuals are free to express diverse opinions and beliefs without fear of persecution.

To ensure that indigent patients would be able to avail of free medical services for the entire year, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) was provided with an additional P1.54 billion in its budget under the P4.5 trillion General Appropriations Act for 2021, Senator Sonny Angara said today.