AUG
04
2017

Free public college tuition can be funded in 2018 nat’l budget—Recto

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto today thanked President Duterte, “the country’s teacher-in-chief,” for signing into law the free college tuition bill. “By signing the law, he is in effect lecturing the nation that we should not just build, build, build for the sake of
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AUG
04
2017

Recto thanks ‘teacher-in-chief’ for signing tuition law, says funding, implementation must be ironed out

I would like to thank the country’s teacher-in-chief for signing into law the free college tuition bill. This law occupies a place among landmark social legislations. If a teacher affects eternity, so does a president who removes obstacles to learning. By signing the law, he is
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AUG
03
2017

Palace wants P1.7 B for new free WiFi spots, Senate to check if it meets rollout plan

The newly-signed Free Internet Access in Public Places Act has a proposed budget of P1.74 billion next year, for the rollout of 5,308 new WiFi hotspots, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said. On top of said funding is a proposed P1.2 billion to lay the groundwork for a
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AUG
02
2017

Statement on signing of laws extending validity of passports and driver’s licenses

Extending validity of licenses, passports shouldn’t make them more expensive I would like to thank President Duterte for signing into law the bills extending the period of validity of a passport to 10 years, and that of a driver’s license to five years. These are anti-red tape
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AUG
02
2017

Statement on the gov’t proposal to raise car registration fees

Government has a triple whammy tax proposal on vehicles. Already known are the proposed additional taxes on motor vehicles and on the fuels that run them. Not yet on the public radar is the third one, which seeks to double car registration fees, or what is officially known as the
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AUG
02
2017

Recto to Palace: Don’t just veto tuition bill, send your version

How can they convince the youth that 3-in-1 coffee tax is good for their future, but free college tuition is not? Should President Duterte follow his advisers’ recommendation to veto the free college tuition bill, “such a setback would be like losing the first round of a boxing
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JUL
28
2017

Luzon’s ‘zero dark’ prospect in 2024 prompts need to resume WPH oil hunt

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto today backed moves by the country’s top diplomat to find “a constitutionally-compliant win-win arrangement” that will allow Manila and Beijing to jointly explore for oil in the West Philippine Sea. With the Malampaya field off Palawan
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JUL
27
2017

Recto: Cut red tape in the sending of disaster text alerts

If flood and storm text alerts have been few and infrequent, blame it on the circuitous way that proposed messages are “processed and approved before they are sent out,” Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said today. “It is not the fault of telcos,” Recto said, “but the
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JUL
27
2017

Amid reports of underspending, senators to grill agencies on fund utilization

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said senators would cross party lines in asking agencies during the 2018 national budget hearings if they are on track in spending their current year allocations to find out if underspending still plagues budget utilization as it had in
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