Press Release
June 6, 2016

Senate adjourns sine die, approves 2 bills

The Senate adjourned sine die today, June 6, signaling the close of the 16th Congress.

Before ending the session, the Senate approved two house bills on final reading which sought to grant Filipino citizenship to Hans-Peter Smit and renew the franchise of an electric company in Batangas for another 25 years.

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senator Pia Cayetano, who introduced and sponsored House Bill 5560, said Hans-Peter Smit had lived in the Philippines since the age of six and dedicated his life in teaching sports to the Filipino students.

According to the bill, Smit was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and married Carmencita Carlos, a Filipina. He was considered as the youngest football coach in the country at age 21. Smit also became the youngest Athletic Director in the country when he started the Varsity Program for De La Salle Santiago Zobel School (DLSZ).

Aside from coaching football, Smit organized football events such as festivals, leagues and national championships. He is also an official Match Commissioner (MC) for the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and a certified Asian Football Confederation Match Commissioner, the bill added.

Smit represented the Philippines in numerous international football events as coach and representative to various coaching seminars in and around Asia, the bill said.

"Hans-Peter Smit has been active in Philippine football for the last 34 years. His passion for the sport and his willingness to contribute to the wellbeing and development of Philippine football, especially for the underprivileged, grassroots and women's and girl's football, makes him as much as a Filipino as any other Filipino in the country," the Cayetano bill said.

Also approved by the Senate was House Bill 5570. The bill seeks to renew a 25 year franchise to Ibaan Electric Corporation, formerly Ibaan Electric and Engineering Corporation.

Senator Serge Osmeña, chair of the Committee on Energy and sponsor of House Bill No. 5570, said the continued operation of the Ibaan Electric Corporation would generate additional jobs, create career opportunities and continue to provide the people with information to help them in their daily lives.

The bill said that the Ibaan Electric Corporation had also complied with the requirements prescribed by the law such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other requirements. (Iris Espolong & Elmira Bianca Fermiza, OJT)

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