Legarda files One Tablet, One Student Act as first Senate bill in 19th Congress

Senator Loren Legarda on Monday filed the proposed One Tablet, One Student Act as the first Senate bill in the 19th Congress.

Being the most senior senator in the 19th Congress, Legarda was given the privilege to file the first 10 bills in the upper chamber.

In a statement, Legarda said the One Tablet, One Student bill seeks to provide each public school student in elementary, secondary, and state universities and colleges (SUCs) with a tablet computer to enable them to participate in online classes effectively.

The next three bills that Legarda filed were also in line with the improvement of the education system in the country.

Senate Bill 2 or the Magna Carta of Public School Teachers seeks to institutionalize a revised Magna Carta for Public School Teachers that can promote, protect, and uphold their rights and capably respond to their current needs.

Senate Bill 3 or the Magna Carta for Private School Teachers seeks to promote and improve the social and economic status of private school teachers, their living and working conditions, terms of employment, and career prospects.

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 4 or the Act Upgrading the Minimum Salaries of Public School Teachers and Personnel seeks to upgrade the minimum salaries of public school teachers to Salary Grade 15, teaching personnel in higher education to Salary Grade 16 and non-teaching personnel to P16,000.

Legarda also filed Magna Carta for Barangay Health Workers bill which seeks to strengthen the barangay unit by revising and repealing the existing law.

Also filed by Legarda were the proposed Technical Education, Training and Certification Act of 2022; the Barangay Employment and Entrepreneurship Service Office (BEESO) bill; the Pangkabuhayan bill; the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS) Law of 2022; and the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) Remittance Protection Act of 2022.

“We just filed the first batch of our priority bills today, which are mostly zeroed in on the edification of the country’s education and livelihood system. We prioritized these measures as we believe they are very timely and that we must act on them immediately to address the pressing needs of our society,” Legarda said in a statement.—AOL, GMA News