A record of landmark social legislation

IT’S

my privilege to have the Social Security Act of 2018 enacted during my watch having been an intimate observer and at times participant in the intricate and laborious legislative mill process which marked its passage. When they collectively put their minds and hearts into it and place the interest of the commonweal primordial, there is no better specimens of public servants than well-meaning and hardworking congressmen and senators crafting and enacting a good law.

This is the case of Rep. Act No. 11199, the “Social Security Act of 2018.” For posterity’s sake and before oblivion sets in, I would like to cite the valuable work and contributions of Senators Richard Gordon, Franklin Drilon, Ralph Recto, and Sherwin Gatchalian, and Congressmen Enrico Pineda, Michael L. Romero, Prospero Pichay, Mark Go, Rozzano Rufino Biazon, and their colleagues, and their legislative staff who truly sculpted a law which will ensure social security to the Filipino workers in the private sector.

Just like its counterpart law in the US, whose passage was hailed by then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who, upon signing the US Social Security Act of 1935, proudly declared: “It seems to me that if the Senate and the House of Representatives, in this long and arduous session, had done nothing more than pass this security bill, Social Security Act, the session would be regarded as historic for all time.” On the 50th anniversary of its signing, President George Herbert Walker Bush exclaimed that the US Social Security Act is the greatest moral achievement of the century. RA 11199 deserves no less a praise.

Great presidents leave their mark not just by the physical infrastructures and monuments they build but the landmark legislations he achieves. By these measure, there is no doubt that President Rodrigo RoaDeterte will be remembered by the Filipinos and remain in the hearts of his people.

Years from now, the term “tokhang” will no longer be in our currency but the lasting impact of the free college education in our state colleges and universities, the tax reform laws, and now the Social Security Act of 2018 and the Universal Health Act, and probably the Expanded Maternity Act, once the funding issue is resolved, shall continue to benefit generations of Filipinos. The enactment of these measures demonstrate unparalleled and bold political will of the current leadership – legislative masterstrokes that will define the Duterte presidency and his administration.

These significant legislations clearly depict Congress at its finest and the President at his best. It will be a tall order for the future Presidents and Congresses to exceed, if not match, this feat.