Recto wants life imprisonment for big-time smugglers

12 August 2013, Comment are Off
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto has filed a bill seeking to declare big-time smuggling as a capital offense by imposing the penalty of life imprisonment to anyone who will engage in unlawful importation of goods valued more than P1 million. “Smuggling continues to...

Gov’t to hire 131 docs to the barrios, 22,500 nurses; repair 2,871 clinics, spend P10.2 B for drugs, insure 14.7 M families

09 August 2013, Comment are Off
Describing it as a “prescription for drugs, doctors, and clinics”, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto today likened the P81.7 billion proposed budget of the Department of Health for 2014 as a “needed shot in the arm for the public health system.” “It is definitely a booster...

Gov’t to spend P2.17 billion a day in 2014 for debt service

08 August 2013, Comment are Off
Government’s interest and principal payments on its debts will reach P791.5 billion next year, or a daily disbursement rate of P2.17 billion, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said. While debt service will climb to an all-time high next year, “the good news is that share...

Recto : Tap P7.5 B Calamity Fund to help Mindanao areas hit by floods, bombings

07 August 2013, Comment are Off
Mindanao areas battling both natural and man-made calamities of flooding and bombings should receive national aid in the form of releases from the P7.5 billion Calamity Fund, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said today. While popularly known as the source of aid in times...

Recto calls for mandatory CCT enrolment of homeless, relocated estero dwellers

05 August 2013, Comment are Off
How do you prevent resettled Metro Manila estero residents from returning to their old dangerous dwellings? Enroll them in the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program with the added condition that they can only receive the monthly stipend for as long as they stay put...

Recto bats for tax deduction for those caring for elderly, disabled

04 August 2013, Comment are Off
Taxpayers who care for their parents or tend to persons with disabilities should be able to declare them as dependents for the purpose of claiming tax exemptions. This is according to Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto, who filed a bill seeking to remove the limitation...

PhilHealth card as national ID

03 August 2013, Comment are Off
Simulat’s sapul consistent ang posisyon ko dyan. Gawing national ID ang national health insurance card. As early as 1995, itinadhana na ng isang batas na ang PhilHealth card ay ang de facto national ID. Republic Act 7875, the National Heath Insurance Act of 1995 which is also the...

‘How can we stop PAGASA forecasters from leaving Phil area of responsibility?’

03 August 2013, Comment are Off
PAGASA lost another seasoned weather forecaster, Ricky Fabregas, who had reportedly accepted a P100,000 a month job in Congo. At the rate weather forecasters are leaving the Philippine area of responsibility, we may end up with no one alarming us that a typhoon is coming. If the...