SEP
01
2017

Recto: DepED feeding budget gets boost, but DSWD’s will be put on a diet

The proposed DSWD budget for feeding malnourished kids will be cut by P1 billion, and Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto has warned officials to be ready with a good explanation “on why they will put this good program on a diet.” Recto said that under next year’s national
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SEP
01
2017

Recto to PNP: If you have money for P.5 M dogs, you certainly have for body cams

If the Philippine National Police (PNP) was able to ask for, and was given, funds to buy 48 bomb-sniffing dogs at a cost of P511,672 each, then it should also request funds for the acquisition of body cams for policemen, to be drawn from a P5.6 billion police modernization fund
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AUG
26
2017

Gov’t told to hold job fairs for engineers to end talent shortage, project delays

Government agencies with a “build, build, build” mission have been told to hold a job fair in order to fill the vacancies in engineering and other construction-related positions which have been blamed for the slowdown of infrastructure projects. The proposal was made by Senate
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AUG
22
2017

Recto: Lapena must hit collection goal, hit hard smugglers which Duterte says steal P165 B a year

Isidro Lapena, the newly-appointed Customs commissioner, “has no time be an OJT and should hit the ground running after a P1.28 billion daily collection goal” that is vital to government operations. This was pointed out by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, who said that
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AUG
20
2017

PNP must justify P1B request for Tokhang II

I expect that the review of the events on that fateful night in Caloocan which led to the death of a young man will be pursued in many fronts. Kian’s life was ended so dastardly that it has united the nation in anger and grief. This national pain can only be salved by the
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AUG
20
2017

Judy’s permanent replacement faces Congress grilling on P9.5 B budget hike, P1 B cut in feeding program

The next permanent head of the Department of Social Welfare and Development must be “a quick study” who must not only grip the reins of a big-budgeted agency fast, but also expertly defend before Congress its proposed P137.5 billion budget for 2018. “The budget hearings will
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AUG
19
2017

Recto: Digong seeks P422 M for single gov’t website to let people get permits, services online

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto is backing President Duterte’s request to Congress to appropriate P422 million “for the development of a centralized portal allowing individuals to make transactions – from filling out forms to payment – online.” The chief executive made
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AUG
17
2017

Recto: Big job, mega-billion budget, 29 M clients await new DSWD chief

The next DSWD secretary should be in the mold of the 10 women who had held that post since 1986. If tradition is to be followed, there’s a high bar to be met in choosing the head of an agency that helps those who have fallen through the cracks of society. Recite their names and
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AUG
16
2017

Nat’l budget to jump P1 trillion in 2 yrs but bugged by “underspending, over-appropriations”

The national budget will jump to P3.767 trillion in 2018, or by P1 trillion, from its 2016 level of 2.682 trillion, and Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto doubts if agencies have the capacity “to spend their allocations, which essentially are taxes collected from the
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