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The Senate approved on second reading Monday a bill which will use a portion of the Malampaya collection to defray a looming hike in electricity prices caused by stranded power sector privatization costs, which will be passed on to consumers. The measure, principally authored by...

The bloody Sulu cathedral bombing is the first leadership test of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leaders who are set to assume the reins of the Bangsamoro autonomous government, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said. Recto said solving Sunday’s twin explosions which...

A bill has been filed in the Senate defining which types of motorcycles may qualify as public utility vehicles, which if approved will lift the ban on two-wheel vehicles from ferrying paying passengers. Sen. Ralph Recto’s Senate Bill 2173 classifies public utility motorcycles as...

The abolition of the Road Board should not tempt the administration to push through with its plan to raise motor vehicle registration fees, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said. “’The end’ na ang Road Board. But raising car registration fees should not be its sequel....

The Senate has plugged a hole in the 2019 national budget, through which multi-billion-peso Chinese and other foreign-funded projects unilaterally approved by the executive can be paid, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said. The “block payment” provision in the Senate...

The Senate version funds new laws which were not yet passed when the 2019 national budget was being prepared at the executive level. For months, we waited for the executive to propose funding for laws they themselves advocated. In the absence of such, the Senate, in bipartisan...

The proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) calls for evidence-based legislation. It should be grounded on facts, supported by studies. Not on whims, and unproven theories. We need to read the scholarship behind the proposed policy. In the absence of...

There are gaps in the proposed 2019 budget which the Senate can address in a transparent, legal way. No one is to be blamed for the oversight, as these unfunded mandates arose from laws passed after the 2019 national budget has been prepared in the executive branch. In addition...