Getting to know more about Rep. Jaye Lacson-Noel
MALABON’S journey as a lone congressional district, established in 2010, has been one of focused development spearheaded by its tried and true leader, Rep. Jaye Lacson-Noel. Before this, Malabon was part of a joint district which led to divided resources and representation. With its district, Malabon public servants could advocate more directly for the city’s causes.
It resulted in initiatives tailored to Malabon’s specific challenges and opportunities, likely accelerating progress in infrastructure, social services, and local businesses. The city’s current state reflects the dedication of Rep. Jaye Lacson-Noel in leveraging its Lone District status for the betterment of Malabon and its residents. The people also play a crucial role in Malabon’s march to progress. As empowered individuals, they raise the bar of the quality of life and set an example of what it’s like to access benefits and support across different sectors.
Lone District Representative Josephine Veronique R. Lacson-Noel, fondly known as Jaye to her constituents, is one such public leader who values the empowerment of her community. She always leads with passion and logic, as she always does in office, since she also served her constituency during the 14th to 16th and 18th Congresses with inclusive years from 2007 to 2016 and 2019 to present. She strongly advocates poverty reduction and hunger mitigation, quality education, industrial innovations and development, good health and well-being, gender equality, and empowerment of women, mothers, wives, and girls.
Rep. Jaye Lacson-Noel attended the Ateneo de Manila School of Laws in 2005. While at the University of the Philippines, earning her degree in BA Communications-Journalism until her graduation in 1991, she worked as a researcher for the Davide Commission, a commission created to find out the truth and put closure to issues involving graft, corruption, and rebellion. Upon graduation, she became a member of the secretariat of the organizing committee of the Manila Southeast Asian Games in 1991.
The district representative is currently enrolled in the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education, taking a program in Promoting Racial Equity in the Workplace after she completed her first program on Leading Successful Programs: Using Evidence to Assess Effectiveness last April 2023 in Harvard Kennedy School in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
HER LEGACY OF NOTABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PHILIPPINES
After office assumption, she prioritized to end Malabon’s perennial and complex flooding problem. She introduced intricate, creative, innovative and modern solutions to flooding through systematic and concrete plan of actions such as research, provision of complete flood equipment and construction of modern infrastructure. Her sincere dedication to public service became instrumental to the eradication of flooding in her beloved city and this, consequently, steered Malabon to sustainable social and economic progress.
She heartily worked on legislations that focused light on women’s causes, the protection of girls and the social security guarantee of senior citizens, including the very controversial Reproductive Health Law bill in 2011. While proactively resolving the perennial flooding problem of her city through the establishment of modern flood control infrastructure projects, and decrease the rates of crime and violence, the district representative also advocated for accessible and equal technical skills training and employment opportunities and free and quality health care service through the establishment of rural health care units in the twenty-one barangays.
As solution to the rampant and increasing crime rate in the country, particularly in the National Capital Region, she provided police response and surveillance equipment and authored Republic Act No. 10883, otherwise known as the “New Anti-Carnapping Law of 2016” to efficiently penalize and prevent the rampant unlawful taking of motor vehicles.
In 2019, as a girl defender, she persistently worked hard together with other veteran legislators to illegalize and impose penalties from fines to 12 years of imprisonment to offenders practicing child marriage in her country as she sees so much potential in this generation’s youth. The bill was finally signed into law by former President Duterte in 2021. Meanwhile, in the 19th Congress, she is the principal author of 100 bills, including HB00227 or An Act Instituting Policies for the Protection and Welfare of Caregivers in the Practice of Their Profession, HB02971 or An Act Criminalizing the Creation and Dissemination of “Fake News,” Amending for the Purpose Sections 3 and 4 of Republic Act No. 10175, Otherwise Known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, and HB02973 or An Act Defining and Penalizing Verbal Abuse Against the Elderly, Women, Children, and Persons With Disability, and Republic Act No. 11916 Increasing the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens from Php 500.00 to Php 1,000.00, among other legislations.She also co-authored 88 other bills.
Besides championing growth and change through legislation, in October 2022, Rep. Lacson- Noel also became the 9th Chairperson of the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population Development (PLPCPD), a non-stock, nonprofit, membership-type organization of legislators from the Senate and House of Representatives inclined with her advocacies developing people-centered public policies on population and human development. For the 19th Congress, she holds a Deputy Majority Leader role in the Committee on Rules.
CHAMPIONING CHANGE IN MALABON
During her recent incumbency, the district representative spearheaded various initiatives that uplifted her constituents’ lives and contributed to the Marcos administration’s bid for a “Bagong Pilipinas” (New Philippines), where inclusivity and accessibility are vital. One solution to keeping up with the rapid inflation is prioritizing the welfare of Malabon’s workforce by addressing the severe employment shortage through the “Subok at Tapat” social and economic programs in Malabon. One part of this pertains to labor opportunities involving short-term employment, internship, and upskilling programs. With 11,186 beneficiaries from last year, through the promise of Bagong Pilipinas, Rep. Lacson-Noel aims to increase the number of beneficiaries this year.
The “Subok at Tapat” social services was originally launched in 2019 to bridge the gaps in our country’s social service system and enable every resident of Malabon to be able to provide food adequate for all family members and easy access to education, skills training, employment, and health care with an expectation of recipient increase from the presently served 200,000 to 250,000 beneficiaries.
Under Rep. Lacson-Noel’s leadership, the Lone District of Malabon has also begun planning for its sustainability journey, wherein they raise awareness of climate change and response among the people of the district to foster environmental protection and continuity. First on the list is to take action regarding Malabon’s flooding problem, leading to the construction of the Dampalit Mega Dike in Barangay. Dampalit, Malabon City. The megastructure flood control will minimize flooding in Dampalit and eliminate those in the other 20 barangays.
The district representative designed programs to help Malabon residents understand and embrace the spirit and science of sustainability, guiding them to adapt to lifestyle changes and ideas. Rep. Jaye Lacson-Noel has undoubtedly triumphed in the House of Representatives from then to now. Her leadership approach, which combines compassion, love, competence and courage with well-curated goals, empowers Malabonians to treat each other with respect, live better lives and become better individuals who can also champion change and cultivate a culture of trust and partnership leaping forward to sustainable development.
