Biography

Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy Sombillo Binay is the chairperson of the Senate Committees on Tourism, Cultural Communities, and Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development in the ongoing 17th Congress. Sen. Binay is also the co-chairperson of the Joint Oversight Committee on Tourism. She is one of the vice chairpersons of the Energy Committee and a member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal.

Sen. Binay remains true to her promise to be the “Nanay de Pamilya” in the Senate. During the 16th Congress, she filed 119 bills and 151 resolutions advocating the interests of women and children, the youth, the elderly, and housing for the poor.

In the same Congress, three of her bills became law: An Act Repealing the Crime of Premature Marriage under Article 251 of the Revised Penal Code (R.A. 10655), Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2015 (R.A. 10659), and An Act Expanding the Benefits and Privileges of Persons with Disability (R.A. 10754). As chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, she sponsored the passage of the Centenarians Act of 2016 (R.A. 10868).

In the ongoing 17th Congress, Sen. Binay co-sponsored the Expanded Maternity Leave Law of 2017 (SB No. 1305) which grants 120-day maternity leave to female workers regardless of civil status; as well as The Filipino Sign Language Act (SB No. 1455), which declares the Filipino Sign Language as the National Sign Language of the Filipino Deaf and the Official Sign Language of the Government in All Transactions with the Deaf.

Other measures that Sen. Binay championed are the Expanded NIPAS Act of 2017 (SB No. 1444); the First 1000 Days of Life Bill (SB 1145); and the amendment to the Local Government Act providing for permanent positions to tourism officers (SB 1565).