Media

PRESS RELEASE Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has referred to the strong labor market improvements in the latest Labor Force Survey (LFS) as a sign of a thriving and more inclusive economy and underscored that the government’s initiatives to enhance the ease of doing business in...

PRESS RELEASE Finance Secretary and ex-officio Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) member Ralph G. Recto has championed the immediate release of the long overdue retirement pay benefits of the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) employees. “My heart goes out to the...

PRESS RELEASE Recto: Gov’t all hands on deck in countering the impact of El Niño on food security, proactively prepares for La Niña Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has assured the public that the government is all hands on deck in countering the impact of El Niño on food...

PRESS RELEASE Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has successfully collected PHP 88.6 billion from 47 Government-Owned- or Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) as of May 6, 2024––eleven times higher than 2023 and a major source of non-tax revenues for the national government to fund...

PRESS RELEASE Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has urged the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to work with the government in transforming the country’s capital market as a vehicle for ordinary Filipinos to become shareholders in the nation’s growth. “Wider public access to...

Press Release Finance Secretary and Chair of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G-24) Board of Governors Ralph G. Recto has urged member states to reclaim their lost momentum and make a powerful comeback in the race to 2030 through heightened cooperation and scaled-up...

Press Release In line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s directive for the government to roll out a ‘red carpet’ for investors, the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) has unanimously approved a resolution increasing the investment capital threshold for projects handled...

PRESS RELEASE Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has welcomed the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) Board’s recent approval to award a contract to a winning private sector consortium bidder for the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)––the...

Mr. President: I have been advocating for a PhilHealth-based national ID card long before I was elected to this body. Years ago, when the plan to create a national ID system was driven by security concerns, I countered that such an ID will only garner high social acceptability if...

The last time I stood here, I exhorted us to use, so to speak, our coconuts to drop the perpetual approach in rehabilitating the coconut industry and opt for a faster reconstruction timetable with a fixed deadline. I said that if an industry is in crisis, efforts to revive it...

Remarks of Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto Mr. President: When it comes to diagnosing the ills of the coconut industry, I share the same findings with my esteemed colleagues. Nine out of 10 live below poverty line. The irony of their penury is best captured by this...

Mr. President: There is a saying that in making laws, it is the politicians who write the bill, but it is the people who foot the bill. Campaign promises are free; redeeming them is what is costly. Lawmakers get the credit, but it is the taxpayers who raise the cash. Yes, the...

Explanation of Vote: Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph G. Recto I am voting in the affirmative, Mr. President, with the manifestation that to further improve the bill, three provisions should be...

Mr. President, my dear colleagues: The nominee is my seatmate in the Arroyo Cabinet, which was when I saw how good a doctor he is. When I dug into a bag of chicharon, he never lectured me about cholesterol; when wine was served, he saw to it that my glass was always full; and...

National Child Feeding Program: One Recipe Against Rising GNP – Gutom na Pilipino Explanation of Vote Speech on Senate Bill 1279: Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto* The good news is that our GDP is increasing. The bad...

Our soon-to-be man in Washington DC is no babe in the woods in US affairs. Though principally based in Manila, he has enough contacts in the American capital that he can be considered a Beltway insider. So wide is his network, I was told, that should Trump drain the swamp, those...