The irreplaceable Raul V. Del Mar

The late congressman Raul V. del Mar was the principal author of RA 11291, otherwise known as the Magna Carta for the Poor. Upon its passage by Congress, Del Mar was worried that it would not be signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte simply because his name appeared first in the bill among the numerous co-authors. He was identified as being with the opposition in Congress.

He confided in me that he was willing to drop his name from the bill if its presence would be an obstruction. But I appeased him. The bill’s declaration of policy and the nobility of its provisions, I told him, would encourage the president to sign the bill into law.

Indeed, on April 12, 2019, President Duterte approved it to become RA 11291. The new law prescribes the fundamental right of the poor as essential requirements for poverty alleviation, to wit: a.) Right to adequate food; b.) Right to decent work; c.) Right to relevant and quality education; d.) Right to adequate housing; e.) Right to the highest attainable standard of health. Other rights of the poor provided under existing laws shall remain in full force and effect. All poor Filipinos can demand entitlement to and enhancement of such rights.

Who are the “poor” under the law? Section 3(f) thereof defines “poor” to refer to “individuals or families whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and/or those who cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing, or other essential amenities of life, as defined under Republic Act No. 8425, otherwise known as the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act.” In determining who constitute the poor, the Multidimensional Poverty Index determined by the Philippine Statistics Office (PSA) shall be considered.

As the Father of Cebu Press Freedom of the New Millennium, the irreplaceable Congressman Raul (who never lost a congressional derby in the city’s north district) added more laurels to the monumental achievements of his father, Jose Maria del Mar (a politician, journalist, orator, playwright, theater actor, publisher, and editor of Spanish language Cebu daily newspaper La Prensa). The latter was press secretary of Gov. Sergio Osmeña Jr. in 1951 and for a short time, of Gov. Jose Briones in 1955. I was deeply humbled when I took over his position in 1960.

I used to see Jose del Mar in his Capitol office when I became a member of the speaker’s bureau of the Youth for Osmeña Leadership (YOL) and editor of the YOL Courier, the Cebu Daily News supplement. YOL was Serging’s active youth organization in the elections from 1955 onward.

Secretary Adelino B. Sitoy

Presidential Legislative Liaison Office