THE Senate will prioritize measures seeking to set up a trust fund for coconut farmers and expand benefits to solo parents, Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said at an online news briefing on Tuesday.
Also to be prioritized are the proposed Medical Scholarship Act and changes to the Revised Penal code to increase penalties for perjury, he said.
The previous Congress had passed the coco levy fund bill but it was vetoed for lacking safeguards.
Congress resumed sessions on May 4 after a two-month Holy Week break. Hearings and sessions are done online because of a Luzon-wide lockdown amid a novel coronavirus pandemic. It will adjourn again on June 5.
The bill on solo parents will give them a 20% discount on their child’s medical needs, basic necessities, tuition and hospital bills of both the child and solo parent.
Mr. Sotto also said the chamber would push scholarships for medical students to increase the number of local health workers.
These measures are on top of a bill that will allow President Rodrigo R. Duterte to change the academic calendar in cases of national emergencies, and the bill seeking to lower corporate income taxes. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
