Just 1 in 3 ‘Doctors to Barrios’ slots taken, Recto bats for ‘1 town, 1 doctor’ scholarships

22 November 2016, Comment are Off
Because only a third of the slots in its Doctors to the Barrios program are filled for lack of applicants, government has no choice but to produce its own doctors under a program in which scholars will repay tuition and other schooling expenses by serving in their hometowns for...

Minority wants Malampaya billions firewalled from Bataan nuke project

21 November 2016, Comment are Off
The Senate minority wants the P188 billion unspent government share from Malampaya and other energy projects “firewalled” from being used to finance the restarting of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). Minority Leader Ralph Recto said there should be “no funding...

‘ERC needed to police power industry. Change the people, don’t abolish it’

21 November 2016, Comment are Off
Change the people, but do not abolish the body. Improve it, reform it, but do not dismantle it. Change the software, upgrade the hardware. Then reboot. The ERC must stay to police the electricity market. Somebody should blow the whistle on anti-competitive practices in an...

Crossing party lines, senators give PNP equipment budget P5 billion boost

20 November 2016, Comment are Off
Senators have crossed party lines to boost the Philippine National Police’s equipment budget next year by P5 billion, so that policemen, in the words of Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto, “will be able to meet its guarantee of a 15-minute maximum response time to all distress...

‘Fire-hit villages which look like mini-Hiroshimas must get Calamity Fund’

19 November 2016, Comment are Off
Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto is urging Malacañang to extend Calamity Fund assistance to thousands of homeless families in fire-razed communities in Metro Manila. “When an entire community is burned to the ground, then it should qualify for national assistance,” Recto said,...

Recto to Digong: Free sick, old prisoners this Christmas

19 November 2016, Comment are Off
With less than 40 days before Christmas, release papers of old, sickly and infirm prisoners should now be on their way to Malacañang, Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said in appealing anew to President Duterte to give “the gift of clemency” next month to frail prisoners who...

‘Malayo at malabo,’ Recto says of ‘ICCexit’

18 November 2016, Comment are Off
President Duterte’s threat to pull out from the International Criminal Court (ICC) “is just one of his trademark ‘thinking out loud’ moments which spice up his public speeches.” This is Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto’s take on the Duterte’s statement that the Philippines may...

Rules for added tax breaks for PWDs to be signed Dec. 1

18 November 2016, Comment are Off
The long-awaited rules that will implement tax breaks for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and their kin who care for them will be signed on Dec. 1, Department of Social Welfare and Development officials said in reply to a query from Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto during...