Akbayan Partylist Representative Chel Diokno vowed to take concrete measures for youth protection.
In a press conference on Wednesday, July 16, Diokno elaborated on the measures that Akbayan will be pushing for once the 20th Congress convenes. Two of those measures are focused on the welfare and rights of the youth.
A Magnified View of Filipino Youth
The “Magna Carta for Out of School Youth” is aimed at making concrete steps to address the rising cases of out-of-school youth. Diokno stressed that the percentage among Filipino youth has risen to 25%, an alarming rate compared to previous years, where it only peaked at 10%.
“Pero ngayon, umaabot na ‘yan up to 25%...wala naman tayong nakikitang mga kongkretong hakbang na ginagawa ng pamahalaan para tugunan itong napakalaking problema. Pag hindi natin na-address itong problema ngayon, papaano na ‘yan?” Diokno emphasized.
“Paano kung umabot ng 30, 35, 40, or even 50% ng youth natin ay out of school. Edi wala nang kinabukasan silang kinakaharap na maganda,” he added.
Apart from this, Akbayan also filed the “Students' Rights and Welfare” Bill, aimed at implementing better protection for students. In addition to this, the lawmaker pointed out that they would also file an “Interns' Rights and Welfare” Bill.
“Para naman sa mga interns, ang dami naming natatanggap na reports na para bang ginagamit sila na mga empleyado pero hindi naman nababayaran. So we will be filing an Interns Rights and Welfare Bill,” he said.
With this, the budget allotted for the education section must be looked at from a “much deeper eye.” Diokno pointed out that Akbayan had long been pushing to increase the gross domestic product (GDP) for education to at least six percent.
“Pero hindi lang ‘yon. Marami tayong tanong pag dating sa education budget. Paano iaaddress halimbawa ng DepEd yung shortage ng classrooms? Paano nila iaaddress 'yong kitang-kita naman natin 'yong problema sa kalidad ng edukasyon na nasa ibaba pa rin tayo when it comes to reading, science, and the other basic subjects, and also critical thinking,” he emphasized.
Earlier this month, the Akbayan Partylist said that it would file a bill to regulate e-gambling in the country. The bill aims to impose firm age restrictions on e-gambling platforms and remove access to e-wallet services like GCash and Maya.
“It’s a measure to provide very strict regulation against online gambling, which includes know your customer strict protocols for all the online gambling platforms, among the many other features,” the lawmaker explained.
Meanwhile, the POWERR Bill seeks to strengthen the protection for gig and online workers.
“For the online workers, entrepreneurs, riders, and racketeras, meron naman kaming ihahain na POWERR Bill para maproteksyunan yung mga gig workers natin, yung mga online workers at iba’t ibang mga sa ngayon ay hindi pa sila sakop ng mga proteksyon na nasa batas natin,” he said.
‘No chel-dren left behind’
“Babalikan ko lang yung sinabi ko nung nuna na no chel-dren left behind. Matagal na nating sinasabi na yung kabataan ang pag-asa ng Pilipinas, na talagang nasa kanila ang kinabukasan ng bansa. Pero words must be measured also by actions,” the lawmaker highlighted.
“Kami [dito] sa Akbayan, we want to take concrete measures para maalagaan, maproteksyunan, at talagang maging mahalaga ang kapakanan ng lahat ng kabataang Pilipino,” he added.
