Anti-dynasty, social media ban for minors among LEDAC priority bills —Gatchalian

Among the 50 Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) priority bills are the anti-political dynasty bill and a measure that seeks to ban minors from social media platforms, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said on Sunday.

“Humingi tayo ng tatlong priority bills sa mga senador para tutukan ng senado itong mga priority bills. So nag-submit ako ng tatlo, isa doon ay ‘yung pagbawal o pag-ban ng social media sa mga 16 years old [and] below,” Gatchalian said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(We asked the senators to submit three priority bills each so that the Senate can focus on them. I submitted three myself, one of which is the ban on social media for minors aged 16 and below.)

The anti-political dynasty bill, meanwhile, was listed among Senator Risa Hontiveros’ priority bills, according to Gatchalian.

To balance legislative work with the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, the Senate President said he plans to have each senator identify three priority bills to focus on.

“Yung LEDAC bills hihingi ako sa ating mga senador kung ano yung ipa-prioritize natin at tapos yun na lang ang aming tututukan hanggang matapos, dahil 50 [bills] pa yung dapat tapusin at lahat ito pinag-aaralan para maayos naman ‘yung pagdedebate at maayos ‘yung pagsasabatas nito,” Gatchalian said.

(I will ask our fellow senators which among the LEDAC bills we should prioritize, and we will focus solely on those until they are passed. There are still 50 bills left to finish, and we are thoroughly studying all of them to ensure proper debates and sound lawmaking.)

Social media ban

On Wednesday, Gatchalian renewed his call for a social media ban for minors aged 16 years old and below following the fatal school shooting incident in Tacloban City.

Gatchalian argued that children are not naturally violent but are instead being influenced to become aggressive.

“Kasi nga ang pinakamalaking tanong dito, ano ba ang nakakaimpluwensya sa mga bata ngayon na nagagawa nila itong karahasan?” the senator said in the interview.

“Ang bata kasi hindi naman ‘yan bayolente e pero mayroong mga impluwensya na nangyayari kaya sila ay nagiging ganito ‘yung kanilang pag-iisip,” he added.

(Because the biggest question here is, what exactly is influencing children nowadays to commit these acts of violence? Children are not naturally violent, but there are things influencing them, which shape their mindset into becoming this way.)

According to Gatchalian, his proposal is backed by studies, citing other countries that have banned minors from using social media due to the algorithm's addictive nature.

“In fact, dami nang bansa ang nagba-ban. Ang pinaka-latest ay United Kingdom kasi nakita nila itong algorithm nakakaadik at kung ano ‘yung pinapanood mo ito rin ‘yung pumapasok sa algorithm mo at lalo kang naaadik,” Gatchalian said.

(In fact, many countries are already implementing bans. The latest is the United Kingdom, because they saw that these algorithms are addictive; whatever you watch feeds into your algorithm, making you even more addicted.)

He added that the ban will include violent games where parents cannot track who their children are playing with online.

Gatchalian proposed two measures to implement the age restriction in the use of social media, starting with the implementation of strict parental controls and identification validation.

“So ‘di lang porket magbibigay ka ng email e pwede ka nang magbukas ng account dapat meron talagang facial recognition or age verification,” the senator said.

(So it shouldn't be that you can just open an account simply by providing an email address. There must strictly be facial recognition or age verification.)

In addition, Gatchalian said the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) will be urged to implement stricter and faster blocking mechanisms whenever a minor is detected using social media.

Bahay Pag-asa

When asked if he agrees with lowering the age of criminal liability, Gatchalian explained that, based on his time as a mayor, Bahay Pag-asa centers function effectively to rehabilitate youth and steer them back on track.

“Kung maganda itong implementation ng Bahay Pag-asa, malaking posibilidad na itong mga batang ito ay marereporma at babalik sa ating lipunan nang maayos na tao,” Gatchalian said.

(If the implementation of Bahay Pag-asa is done right, there is a strong possibility that these children will be reformed and return to society as upstanding citizens.)

“Pero ‘yan ang aking gagawan ng focus, ‘yung implementation ng Bahay Pag-asa dahil… may batas nga, kung ‘di naman na-i-implement nang maganda hindi natin makikita ‘yung maganda kalalabasan nung batas,” he added.

(That is what I will focus on—the implementation of Bahay Pag-asa. Because even if we have a law, if it is not implemented properly, we will not see its good intentions come to fruition.)

As the chairperson of the Senate Finance Committee during the budget deliberations, Gatchalian said they were able to allocate a budget for the construction of five Bahay Pag-asas nationwide.

“In fairness naman pinapatayo na naman ng DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development] pero siyempre we have 84 provinces, so kulang na kulang pa ‘yung pondo.” Gatchalian said.

(The DSWD is already building them, but of course, we have 84 provinces, so the funding is still severely lacking.)

According to Gatchalian, he has already discussed sustaining budgetary support for Bahay Pag-asa facilities with Senator JV Ejercito, who currently chairs the Senate Finance Committee.

Anti-Political Dynasty

Under the Senate Presidency of Gatchalian, the senator said he is committed to passing an anti-political dynasty bill.

“Alam ko magiging madugo pagdating sa Bicam [Bicameral Conference Committee] kasi ang layo ng Senate version sa House version, pero dahil nasa LEDAC ‘yan, itutulak natin hanggang mapasa ‘yan,” Gatchalian said.

(I know the Bicam review will be grueling because the Senate version is so far off from the House version. However, because it is on the LEDAC agenda, we will push for it until it passes.)

According to Gatchalian, the anti-political dynasty bill is one of the priority bills of Hontiveros, including the amendments to the Party-list System Act.

“Napakasipag ni Senator Risa. Daming batas ‘yung sabay-sabay niyang tinutulak. Ayan, isa na ‘yan ‘yung Political Dynasty, tsaka ‘yung Party-list Reform na nasa ilalim din ng committee niya,” the senator said.

(Senator Risa is hardworking. She is simultaneously pushing for several legislations. One of those is the Anti-Political Dynasty bill, alongside the Party-list Reform bill, which is also under her committee.)

According to Gatchalian, the bill to reform the party-list system is also among the LEDAC priority measures they aim to pass. — BM, GMA News