FEB
10
2021

Recto shoots down claim that PMVIC is magic pill that will stop all road mishaps

It is “wrong and misleading” to attribute all road accidents to poorly maintained vehicles, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said, in shooting down a “favorite selling point” of owners of Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs). “Yes, accidents are caused by
FEB
09
2021

‘LTO defective policies should be recalled for fixing like defective cars’ 

The slew of LTO fees “slaps taxes on the pandemic-hit people without basis in law nor approval from agencies and creates confusion, something which could have been avoided if the agency did not commit reckless speeding in implementing them.” This is how Senate President Pro
FEB
08
2021

Do ‘field audit’ of checkpoints, purge road tong to help food byaheros

Trade, agriculture, transportation and police officials have been urged to jointly or on their own conduct a “field audit” on transportation issues that delay the movement of food products and make them more expensive.  Among the “road obstructions” that must be removed,
FEB
03
2021

It is the LTO that needs restraints

Who needs restraint the most? People in the LTO driver’s seat. It is behind the epidemic of new fees. It has become a super spreader of high fines. There is confusion in the rules it issues. The lack of coherence of which is the regulatory equivalent of distracted driving.
FEB
01
2021

High food prices: A salad of ‘funding El Nino’, WPS blockade, tong, etc.

The DA budget is like a dam of water, filled with taxes people pay. But instead of a mighty river that rolls like justice, what records show is a drip-drip of releases, of slow obligation and low absorption. Third quarter 2020 ito ang resibo: Sa P60.7 bilyon na natanggap nila,
JAN
31
2021

Use vaccine wait to stockpile syringes, freezers because ‘we mustn’t wait for the horse to build the cart’

While the government’s global hunt for COVID vaccines has not yet led to deliveries to the hardest-hit country in the Western Pacific, it should, in the meantime, stock up on vaccination supplies such as syringes, which are available in the market. The call was made by Senate
JAN
19
2021

If health frontliners will get first jabs, pick vaccine that is “best body armor for those in the line of fire”

The first vaccines to arrive in the country must possess higher efficacy and effectivity rates as these will be given to medical frontliners, “and hence serve as body armor to those in the line of fire,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said today. “Regardless of the
JAN
19
2021

Emergency response system for possible vaccine side effects more vital than proposed indemnification fund–Recto

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto today welcomed the proposal to set up an indemnification fund for Filipinos who may be harmed by COVID-19 vaccines, but stressed that “the focus should be on strengthening emergency response to the very, very few who may suffer side
NOV
27
2020

After 5 years, gov’t can no longer charge spending delays to “kulang sa praktis”

After having gained experience in budget execution over the past four and half years, which is a lifetime in public administration, agencies can no longer invoke “kulang sa praktis” when it comes to spending for things the people have paid for with taxes.  It is but fair to