Government employees, whether regular or casual, may soon find a raise in their monthly pay slip if the Senate adopts the recommendation of its committee increasing the Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA) from P2,000 to P3,000. Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto has

One item in the government employee payslip turns 26 this year. In June 1991, pursuant to that year’s General Appropriations Act, a Personnel Economic Relief Allowance in the amount of P500 a month was granted to all government employees. Two years later, an “Additional

Explanation of Vote of Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph G. Recto On SB No. 1304 – Affordable Higher Education for All Act 13 March 2017 Mr. President, my dear colleagues: The costs this bill would entail are not unrecoverable expenses. They are investments with high

The free public Wi-Fi bill approved by the Senate today will not only make internet services available to all Filipinos, but will make sure that broadband services are faster and more efficient. “Today marks the era that we, Filipinos, finally commence the march to digital

It is my pleasure to finally vote on a bill which I first filed in May 2014. Although the Free National Wi-Fi Project is now in full swing by virtue of another legislative route—through three General Appropriations Acts, including this year’s—still the best way to guarantee its

After Communist and government negotiators agreed over the weekend to resume peace talks next month, a senator is prodding the two sides to make good on their promise to observe a truce before the Holy Week in April. “Whether unilaterally declared or mutually agreed, the people

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto is backing the government’s plan to build a national broadband network by 2020, saying such “critical infrastructure is needed for the country to win the future.” To jumpstart its rollout, Recto is urging main proponent Department of

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto today called on the executive department to immediately craft a comprehensive strategy aimed at protecting Benham Rise, a 13-million-hectare underwater plateau off the coast of Aurora, from foreign incursion. “No ifs or buts. The

MMDA should study carefully if its new “Windows 2” software to decongest EDSA traffic would work. It better run tabletop simulations and calculations if the new odd-scheme for vehicles could indeed be the relief that we have all been waiting for. It should employ

Due to ‘pasa-load’ provision Even men stand to gain from the bill expanding maternity benefits as it allows a mother to transfer to the father of the child up to 30 days of the 120 days of allowed maternity leave for child-care duties. This, according to Senate