Excerpt from the Senate hearing last October 12, 2016 on the proposed emergency powers for President Rodrigo Duterte to address the traffic problem in the Philippines. Senator Ralph Recto questions the source of funding of the P1.3T DOTr projects: SEN. RECTO: You submitted a

On the confirmation of the Appointment  of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III Mr. President: While the nominee is not the youngest conscript in the Cabinet, he certainly is among the wisest. If the present crew of secretaries has been referred to as the professors who had

Senate hearing last October 12, 2016 on the proposed emergency powers for President Rodrigo Duterte to address the traffic problem in the Philippines. HIGHLIGHTS: 1. Senator Recto questions Section 7 of the DOTr bill re emergency powers for President Duterte 2. Senator Recto to

Sen. Recto (RGR): Mr. Chairman, I will focus on the resolution itself. Not so much on the credibility of the two other witnesses but on the extra-judicial killing and the vigilante killing. Let me start by asking this question: SPO3 Arthur Lascanas, kailan ba itinatag yung

To borrow Kennedy, Senator Miriam’s mastery of the Constitution was awesome that when constitutional experts will be summoned to the Senate in the future, it can only be regarded as the greatest gathering of legal minds in one room, second only to the times when Senator

Mr. President, I am endorsing the nomination of Dr. Ben Diokno as Budget secretary for reasons as thick as the national budget, but not the least of which is that he is a fellow Batangueño. Because history books often mention our forebears in tandem, then it is inconceivable for

Alarmed by the worsening malnutrition problem among Filipino children, Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto has proposed a comprehensive health and nutrition program that will provide protection and support for mothers and their children from conception to childhood. A lynchpin of

Malacanang was told to familiarize itself with the “anti-red tape and quick response” targets that its underlings have promised the  public in the 2017 national budget so it would know if pledges of fast document processing and rapid reaction to distress calls are being met. The

The country will observe the first official National Centenarians Day two Sundays from now, on October 2, but funds for cash gifts for 100-year-old Filipinos pursuant to a new law have not been included in the 2017 budget, prompting Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto to prod both

Hard-nosed investors are attracted by incentives, and are not easily repelled by invectives. They go to where money can be made, and the Philippine is an irresistible large market of over 100 million consumers. Kung saan pa nga ang maraming mura, doon nila gusto – murang