On 1st working day, Nancy Binay lines up 15 Senate bills

MANILA, Philippines -Senator Nancy Binay has lined up 15 priority bills on her first day in office, as she tries to prove her critics wrong that she is ill-suited for a legislator's job.

In a statement on Monday, Binay said the early filing of bills is "critical to advancing" the priorities of the Senate and she hopes that most of the measures that she filed would be passed.

"This is the time I start working on the promises I made during the campaign. This is part of my advocacy and UNA's legislative agenda that I promised to pursue," the neophyte senator said.

Among her bills are The Employers Child Care Centers Act of 2013; Parents in Jail Act of 2013; Special Education Act of 2013, Women's and Children's Resource Development and Crisis Assistance Act of 2013; The Indigent Children Free Medical and Dental Service Act; Firecracker Safety Law; Women and Gender Education Act.

The others are The Anti-Corporal Punishment Act of 2013; The E-Vaw Law of 2013, Rest Period for Women Employees; Sex Offenders School Access Prohibition Act; Philippine Arbitration Commission Act of 2013; Petroleum Exploration and Development Act; Sugar Cane Industry Development Act of 2013 and the Food Fortification Act.

Binay said she would also review laws on adoption of orphans.

She said she wants to make sure that the measures will be "realistic, doable, and would benefit every Filipino family especially women and children."

"I am aware that it would take a lot of skill to manage and defend to get the bills passed, but I'm ready to discuss and negotiate with my colleagues in the Senate in order to reach the needed consensus on pressing issues," said Binay.

In preparation for her Senate duties, the first-time lawmaker took a crash course on legislative work at the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance.

During the campaign period for the 2013 elections, Binay had been criticized for her lack of experience in government work as she had worked only as personal assistant to her father, Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Despite the criticisms, Binay ranked fifth among the winners of the Senate elections after garnering 16,812,148 votes in the final, official tally.