Festivities set for June 1 in LA
LOS ANGELES – Kalayaan Incorporated invites the community to its celebration of the 121st Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence on Saturday, June 1, 2019, at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel (5855 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles, CA).
Kalayaan is extremely proud to have Honorable Risa Hontiveros, an incumbent senator who assumed office on June 30, 2016, as the grand gala’s guest of honor and speaker.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, a health and women’s rights advocate, a proud activist, and a champion of the basic sectors brings the voice of ordinary citizens to the Philippine Senate.
She has been fighting the good fight from an early age. She organized a student group that campaigned against the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) while in high school at the St. Scholastica’s College in Manila. During her college days, she led advocacies for peace and social justice as a student council leader.
In 2001, Hontiveros received the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for Peace and Advocacy for her work in the peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF).
She was also one of the 27 Filipino women among the 1,000 women worldwide who have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
As Akbayan Partylist’s representative during the 13th and 14th Congress, then- Congresswoman Risa fought for the passage of people-centered legislation like the Cheaper Medicines Law and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms Law (CARPER).
She also led civil society groups and fellow advocates in working for the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) Law, a landmark legislation that provides women and families access to reproductive health and modern family planning services.
As a member of the Board of Directors of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Hontiveros pushed for expanded benefits and coverage, specifically for indigents and senior citizens.
As the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women and Gender Equality, she pushes for legislative measures to address social injustice and inequality, particularly in the areas of health care and women’s rights.
She vowed to pass laws to expand the maternity leaves of working women and impose heavier penalties on hospitals that continue to demand a deposit as a prerequisite for the admission or medical treatment of an emergency patient.
Also, part of her commitment is to push for better benefits to be given to Barangay Health Workers, the front-line health care providers in the communities. She is also pushing for the passage of the Anti-Discrimination bill on the basis of Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Gender Expression (SOGIE), which reached the Senate plenary for the first time after nearly two decades of lobbying.
Hontiveros graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences from the Ateneo De Manila University. Before her career as a lawmaker, she was a community organizer and peace advocate. She was also a successful television journalist and news anchor who has worked for major news networks. She is a dedicated solo mother to her four children and shares with them her love of music, culture, and the arts.
For tickets to the Gala Night, please contact Annie Cuevas-Lim, Kalayaan President at (213) 447-7078. For more information, contact KI PROs Violet Mislang at [email protected] or Lady Hope Robillos at [email protected].
