Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian stated that the economic reforms President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mentioned in his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) should move forward to benefit Filipinos in the long run.
He backed the president’s initiatives to boost the country’s economy and lower the cost of living. One of them is the proposal to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to remove system loss charges from electricity bills. Gatchalian also supported the proposed Sariling Kuryente Act which promotes use of battery storage and rooftop solar panels to beef up the country’s energy supply.
He also supported continued investment in digital technology, infrastructure, agriculture, logistics and other key industries, saying that if done right, these will contribute to the creation of more jobs. He also supported the president’s plan to reduce taxes for small businesses and middle-class individuals, saying that this would increase consumer spending and boost the economy.
According to Gatchalian, the Senate is still dedicated to enacting changes that will strengthen the Philippine economy and guarantee that all Filipino families profit from economic expansion.Regarding education, he pledged that in order to enhance the nation’s educational system, the Senate would continue to support initiatives financed by the record PHP1.35 trillion education budget.President Marcos emphasized in his SONA the hiring of 10,000 School Counselor Associates I and the expansion of the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) to enhance students’ mental and nutritional well-being.
The expanded feeding program now covers all Kindergarten and Grade 1 students aside from undernourished students in Grades 2 to 6, and with the 2026 national budget will increase feeding days from 120 to 200 and cover almost 4.5 million students.In order to guarantee that students receive timely mental health and psychosocial support, the budget also allocated PHP2 billion for the hiring of 10,000 school counselor associates /Mary Salcedo
