A Single roadmap for House and Senate

SEN. Richard Gordon proposed Wednesday that the House and the

Senate hold a workshop to determine the priority legislative agenda of the

Fourteenth Congress.

“I will file a resolution calling for a workshop as soon as the regular

session starts,” Gordon said in a roundtable with Times editors and

reporters.

He said the determination of the priority legislative agenda is like a road

map to guide congressmen and senators throughout the three years of the

Fourteenth Congress.

Sen. Edgardo Angara and Gordon had initiated a two-day caucus at the

Philippine Plaza Hotel in the Thirteenth Congress, but this involved only

senators.

“I think we should now involve the congressmen also in setting our priority

agenda so we could move along the same direction,” Gordon said.

He said the workshop could last two to three days, with experts from

government, the academe and the private sector as resource persons.

“The workshop will also be of great help to the newly elected

senators or congressmen in performing their work,” Gordon added.

He said the performance of the Fourteenth Congress could be gauged from

its treatment of the identified legislative priority concerns.

He admitted that not all of the priority concerns were fully addressed by

the previous Congress, but he stressed that those enacted were of top quality.

Among these “quality” laws are the Reformed Value-Added Tax, the Sin

Tax law, the law abolishing the death penalty, the Biofuels Act, the Juvenile

Justice System, the Automated Election System, the Lending Companies Act

and the extension of the life of Special Purpose Asset Vehicles Act.

Gordon calls for workshop to set course of 14th Congress

BY EFREN L. DANAO

Senior Reporter

Manila Times

19 July 2007

On Basilan Crisis

Administration Sen. Richard Gordon also appealed to the Organization of the Islamic Conference to exercise its influence on the MILF to help pacify the situation in Mindanao.

Gordon also joined the clamor for the AFP to give time to the tripartite body tasked to investigate the July 10 ambush.

“Whoever did that is an outcast, an outlaw,” Gordon said, condemning what had been widely described as a “barbaric act.”

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view_article.php?article_id=78184
Basilan folk flee homes as fight looms
By Julie Alipala, Alcuin Papa
Inquirer
Last updated 02:34am (Mla time) 07/23/2007

On ambush and beheading of Marines in Basilan

Senator Richard Gordon also wants the government to insist that the MILF produce those who were responsible for the carnage.

“They [MILF leaders] should produce those who were responsible for this dastardly act as a show of their good faith in the continuing peace talks with the government ,” Gordon said.

The senator said that such demand should not be made a condition for the continuation of the peace talks between the government and the MILF.

“Not even the [Organization of Islamic Countries] would tolerate that. Nobody deserves to be mutilated; that is an act of inhumanity,” Gordon said.

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news2_july16_2007
Give up killers or else, state warns Moro rebs
By Fel V. Maragay
Manila Standard Today
Monday, 16 July 2007

Sen. Richard Gordon said the military should go after the particular suspects behind the attack to save the peace negotiations with the MILF.
Gordon said the incident should not be made the primary reason to back out from the peace efforts.

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20070715141
AFP to hit both MILF, Abu
By James Mananghaya
Philippine Star
Monday, July 16, 2007

SYMPATHY FOR BORGONIA AND CONCERN FOR OFWS

Saddened by the news confirming that another OverseasFilipino Worker (OFW), Cirilo Borgonia, was killed in mortar and rocket attacks in Baghdad, Iraq, SenatorRichard J. Gordon expressed yesterday his sympathy for the Borgonia family and his serious concern for the safety, security, and welfare of OFWs.

“I want to extend my condolences to the Borgonia family for the untimely death of Cirilo Borgonia. My prayers are with them. I truly feel sorry for their great loss,” said Gordon.

“I hope no other OFW will suffer the same fate,” he added.Notwithstanding the Government ban on deployment toIraq, reports confirm the rising presence of OFWs in that country.

“Apparently, we need to get the message out to all Filipinos who are overseas or seeking to work overseas that there are places that are not safe for them,” stated Gordon. According to Gordon, the purpose of the termination or ban on deployment by the Government is to promote the safety, security, and welfare of OFWs.

“We must ensure as much as possible the safety, security, and welfare of OFWs who continue to work and earn dollars from abroad. At the same time, we must create opportunities within the Philippines so that eventually, Filipinos can find their future not in foreign shores but in their own native Filipinas,” he said.

On CBCP Statement re COMELEC revamp

Sen. Richard Gordon, one of the authors of the Poll Automation Law, said he had been asking Abalos to step down for failing to implement the law and modernize the election system even just in some areas. Sen. Edgardo Angara co-authored the bill.

“Look what’s happening? We cannot proclaim the 12th senator, this should not be the case,” Gordon said in a phone interview from the US.

The automation was set for pilot-testing in six provinces and six highly urbanized cities in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, but the plan did not push through.

Gordon said it was time for Mrs. Arroyo to “walk the talk” by providing the budget for the measure.

“This should be part of her legacy. She must be able to put us out of the dark ages. It is a moral responsibility. It will be very good way to exit from the presidency,” Gordon said.

Gordon said Mrs. Arroyo should appoint new commissioners with “impeccable credentials.”

Gordon also said Mrs. Arroyo should make Abalos account for the P1.3 billion paid to Mega Pacific Consortium for substandard counting machines. “We cannot just smile and say sorry we lost P1.3 billion,” Gordon said.

The Supreme Court had declared illegal and voided the contract between Comelec and Mega Pacific. But the Ombudsman exonerated the Comelec officials despite the SC’s ruling. “Abalos should be made accountable for all these things,” Gordon said.

Under an automated election system, tally results are transmitted immediately to the Comelec, political parties, media and other poll monitoring groups. The system involves paper-based records for easy verification of votes.

www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=2007070997
CBCP: Change Comelec chief
By Edu Punay
Philstar Tuesday, July 10, 2007
w/Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, Marvin Sy, Sheila Crisostomo

Bid to curb mobilephone crime

Manila: In a bid to curb mobile phone crime, two proposals are being pushed through the Senate to make it more difficult for criminals and terrorists to gain access to cellular communications.
Senate Bill No. 289, filed by Senator Richard Gordon, proposes to make it mandatory for Filipinos to register their SIM with the state communications regulation body, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

At the moment only the SIM numbers of mobile users "subscribed" to the three major cellular telecom providers are listed by the government, namely Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and Sun Cellular.

Gordon's proposal seeks to include so-called "pre-paid" SIM users to have their numbers listed by the NTC. The Philippines has an estimated 10 million mobile phone users.

"Lawless elements must not be granted the privilege of using mobile phones to achieve their crimes," Senator Gordon said.

Abuse

He added that by requiring mobile users to have their numbers listed by the government, it will be easier for law enforcers to track down those who abuse modern communications technology.

"The technology was meant to make people's lives easier and business transactions faster. But there are those who abuse it," he said.

Gordon said having a secure directory of mobile numbers "will promote responsibility and accountability in the use of SIM cards as well as providing better law enforcement in protecting the public."

In the Philippines, crimes involving mobiles range from simple petty crimes, such as pedestrian robbery, snatching and muggings, to deadly remote triggering of bombs and explosives, acts of terrorism that are punishable by up to 40 years in jail.

Several major bombing incidents in the country over the past several years have been attributed to explosives rigged to mobile phone triggering devices.

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/07/10/10138191.html
By Gilbert Felongco, Correspondent
Gulf News, Published: July 10, 2007, 00:15

30th Anniversary of US-ASEAN relations

Senator Richard J. Gordon meets with Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet (left) during the 30th US-ASEAN Relations Anniversary held recently in Washington DC. Other ASEAN Ambassadors and US officials led by US National Security adviser Stephen Hadley also attended the said event.