If elected, del Mar to refile Magna Carta

CEBU, Philippines - One of the authors of the proposed Magna Carta for the Poor is hoping that the next Congress will revive and work for the passage of the measure that would benefit the underprivileged.

Former deputy speaker for the Visayas and Cebu City North District  Rep. Raul del Mar yesterday said he would push the measure again if he is elected.

“If God’s will I will be back in the House of the Representative, I will surely refile the measure as principal author thereof,” Del Mar said.

Del Mar along with the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) candidates was in Barangay Tejero Sports Complex for the Waterfront Consultative Leaders Meeting with close to 1,500 leaders.  Del Mar also clarified reports that he lied in his paid political advertisement which he listed among his achievements that he authored the Magna Carta for the Poor.

Del Mar was criticized in a column because the bill he authored was vetoed by President Aquino.

The bill aims to protect the rights of the poor by giving them equal access to basic rights and government services.

 The President found several provisions of the proposed law unrealistic.He specifically cited the right to shelter, which, he said, would cost the government at least P2.32 trillion.

“I never claimed in my political ads that the Magna Carta became a law. The advertisement never stated Magna Carta for the Poor Law, instead it was Magna Carta for the Poor,” del Mar clarified.

Del Mar proposed the bill during his last term as congressman but his term ended before it was passed.

His daughter, Rep. Rachel Marguerite Del Mar, who replaced him refiled the bill and became the principal author of House Bill 4484 that was passed by the House of Representatives last year.

The counterpart Senate Bill 3309, authored by Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Pia Cayetano, was also passed last December. — (FREEMAN)