MAY
25
2015

Free college tuition, student loans for deserving students Senate approves on 3rd reading UniFAST Act

The Senate today approved on third and final reading a measure that would extend financial assistance to poor but deserving college students until they finish their chosen courses in either private or public university. Senate Bill 2679 otherwise known as the UniFAST Act (Unified
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MAY
21
2015

Recto : No benefit in replacing all motor vehicle plates

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto today questioned the decision of Land Transportation Office (LTO) to replace the license plates of all motor vehicles without clear benefits for the paying vehicle owners. In today’s joint public hearing of the Blue Ribbon and Public
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MAY
20
2015

Recto pushes bill exempting persons with disabilities from 12% VAT

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) will soon be enjoying the same benefits accorded to our senior citizens once the bill granting them tax exemption is signed into law. In filing Senate Bill 2483, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph G. Recto wants to give PWDs additional privileges
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MAY
19
2015

Bill granting student loans, free college tuition moving fast in Senate

The Senate is nearing approval of a measure that would extend financial assistance like student loans to cash-strapped but deserving college students until they finish their chosen courses in either private or public university. Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto today
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APR
15
2015

On the murder of Mei Magsino

I strongly condemn the murder of Mei Magsino who gave Batangueños an image of what a crusading and courageous journalist should be. As a member of the press, Mei practiced her craft with guts and grit, her prose and insight as sharp as balisong, which she used to peel the
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MAR
30
2015

Lack of tech-voc labs to torpedo K to 12 plan to produce employable grads

Sen. Ralph Recto today urged government to focus on one big school backlog which if not addressed will torpedo a key objective of the K to 12 program to produce employable graduates. Recto said the lack of technical-vocational (laboratories) in the country’s 7,917 public high
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MAR
28
2015

Modernization law should be PAGASA’s 150th birthday gift

The Senate will soon begin floor debates on a bill upgrading PAGASA’s equipment, staff pay, research capabilities and communication reach which its author says “is the best birthday gift on the weather bureau’s 150th year.” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the bill
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MAR
27
2015

Channel SK’s P7.7B fund to grassroots anti-hunger projects

President Aquino’s signing last Wednesday of Republic Act 10656 which moves anew the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to Oct. 2016 creates the opportunity for channeling P7.7 billion in SK funds toward anti-hunger projects, Sen. Ralph Recto said today. The P7.7 billion
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MAR
23
2015

On World TB Day, Recto asks: ‘What about the Fallen 27,000?’

What about the Fallen 27,000? As the country observes World TB Day today, Sen. Ralph Recto called on government to plowback a portion of its good fiscal numbers in fighting tuberculosis, a scourge which claims the lives of 27,000 Filipinos a year. “It kills 75 a day, more than
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