NOV
25
2020

“Barya na nga lang ang hinihingi, hindi pa masuklian ang sakripisyo ng PGH”

Dr. Gap Legaspi, PGH Director, is an expert neurosurgeon whose operating room virtuoso has saved many lives.  Juggling many duties, he treats and teaches, mentoring future doctors in the hospital he manages.  PGH performs hundreds of complex surgeries a week, on top of
NOV
24
2020

Prepaid vax is OK but don’t let PITC buy it

President Duterte’s order to the government to prepay the COVID-19 vaccines is correct.  Vaccines are not COD goods you can order from Lazada. They are not postpaid items, but prepaid. More so when there is a race among nations to acquire them, with the first batches already
NOV
23
2020

Govt’s New Year resolution is zero debt to health workers

Government should adopt as its “New Year’s resolution” the settlement of hazard pay and all outstanding payables to health care workers before the year ends, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said today. “On or before Christmas, bayad na. Or before the clock strikes
NOV
20
2020

Not all SUC students are funded equal but average is P80,000 per student a year

In my interpellation of the CHED budget, I cited last year’s annual per student cost. The rough calculation was on a per regional basis and I agree that data should be unbundled per school to have a clearer picture. I hope that my rudimentary presentation triggers a healthy
NOV
20
2020

2.3 M learners remain in the “dark ages”, in homes without electricity

Ten percent of country’s students remain in the “dark ages”, in communities unreached by electricity—effectively insulating them from distance learning dependent on gadgets that run on power. This plight of about 2.25 million Department of Education learners emerged in the course
NOV
19
2020

Jobless “Millennials, Miss” hardest hit by economic slump

Government has been urged to make its unemployment cash aid program “more granular”, focusing on women and youth workers who have been hardest hit by pandemic-triggered business closures. The call was made by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, who said that both government
NOV
19
2020

Low budget for vaccines, to be bought by agency “auto-immune to efficiency”

Proposed funding in the 2021 national budget for the purchase and delivery of coronavirus vaccine will cover only 1 in 5 Filipinos, and that is based on the tentative price of the cheapest vaccine being developed, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said today. Compounding
NOV
19
2020

COVID-19 impact on PhilHealth finances nil, budget debates reveal

Concerns that PhilHealth is taking a financial hit due to the coronavirus has no basis, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said, after data on its COVID-19-related reimbursements was revealed during the Senate debate on the Department of Health’s 2021 budget. Of the state
NOV
18
2020

DSWD should “play Santa and distribute P80 B worth of undisbursed aid.”

With 7 weeks left in the year, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto is pressing DSWD “to act like a Santa Claus on overdrive” and quickly disburse some P80 billion remaining in its 2020 budget, prioritizing victims of the three typhoons which have devastated a wide swath of