Angara takes over LDP

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sonny Angara has been elected president of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), the political party founded by his father, the late Senate president Edgardo Angara, in 1988.

Angara said his election as LDP president serves as an opportunity for him to continue his father’s aspirations not only for the 30-year-old party but for the nation as well.

Angara said his father’s death should not prevent the party from pursuing reforms that are important to Filipinos.

“My father serves as an inspiration for us to push for urgent reforms,” the senator told his partymates during their recent organizational meeting and fellowship dinner held at the Manila Golf and Country Club.

These reforms include widening access to education, better job opportunities, universal health care, and universal social pension for senior citizens to empower every member of a Filipino family, he said.

“These are just some reforms that our party should push. All of these are focused on supporting the Filipino family—from the youngest to the grandparents,” he said.

Angara urged his partymates to do everything to make LDP the “party of the Filipino family.”

He said the LDP’s reform agenda on education started when his father authored the Free High School Law, which helped widen access to education for Filipino children.

Angara vowed to push for bills that would provide student discounts to help families with daily school expenses, and raise teachers’ salary to help improve the quality of education in the country.