If needed, gov’t should charter planes to bring home Pinoys from quarantined ship

20 February 2020, Comment are Off
Tama ang desisyon ng pamahalaan na i-repatriate ang mga kababayan nating nagtratrabaho sa barkong na-quarantine sa Japan.  If we have to charter a plane, then let us do it, if only to send a powerful signal to Filipino seafarers that when in distress, the...

Recto confident that biker-in-chief will back motorcycle taxi bill

18 February 2020, Comment are Off
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto is confident that the nation’s “biker-in-chief” will sign into law the Motorcycle Taxi Bill, which lifts the 56-year ban on two-wheelers as a PUV. “The motorbike is the ride of choice of the President,” Recto said in his speech sponsoring...

Lifting of travel ban for HK, Macau OFWs ‘right thing to do’—Recto

18 February 2020, Comment are Off
The decision of the government to allow Filipinos to return to their work in Hong Kong and Macau is a step in the right direction.  This will save the jobs of thousands of Filipinos who were vacationing in their home country when their government imposed a travel ban to those two...

Virus, Volcano, VFA: What’s the cost of each?

10 February 2020, Comment are Off
We are grappling with the three Vs—virus, volcano and the VFA—and each will cost us money. Hopefully, the virus will not spread, Taal will not erupt, and the VFA will not be scrapped for now.  Taal‘s behavior is up to the God above, or whatever geological factors there are...

VFA-exit could come later, not yet time to do a Pelosi and rip it up

06 February 2020, Comment are Off
This is not the time to do a Pelosi and rip up the VFA. A VFA-exit could come later, in a manner that is not rushed, but planned and programmed, and not out of pique.  Certainly not this time when an intruder has built and continues to build what have become the bases of our...

Recto: Put up temporary Great Wall vs Chinese visitors

30 January 2020, Comment are Off
“I think it is time to put a temporary ‘Do not enter sign’ on our doorstep for visitors from China,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said.  “Let us explain to them that we are not permanently closing our doors. This is not a permanent Great Wall. This is only during...

“If US restores Bato’s visa, are we going to stop the VFA abrogation process?”

30 January 2020, Comment are Off
The Senate and DOJ move to separately study the impact of the withdrawal of the Philippines from its Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States should establish “the weightier reasons” for its abrogation, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said.  “Dapat malalim...

Recto: Nat’l aid should start falling like volcanic ash on hard-hit areas

29 January 2020, Comment are Off
Government rehabilitation programs “should now start falling like volcanic ash on areas affected by the Taal eruption,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said.  “It is time to start blanketing these areas with aid to help them get back on their feet again,” Recto...