Speeches

EXPLANATION OF VOTESB 1582: Safe Pathways ActSenate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto01 February 2021 Dear Mr. President, my dear colleagues: On this bill, I have no recourse but to follow the leader of the pack, the captain of the Senate cycling team. I vote yes. A national

Delivered by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto 21 October 2020 Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to be with you today – even though I was given 20 minutes to discuss a raft of bills which has taken us hundreds of hours to deliberate. Imposing that cap on a politician is

*Approved on third reading Explanation of Vote SB 1844: An Act authorizing the President to expedite the processing and issuance of national and local permits, licenses and certifications Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto 14 October 2020 Mr. President, my dear

EXPLANATION OF VOTE Bicameral Conference Committee report on the disagreeing provisions of SBN 1564 and HBN 6953: Bayanihan to Recover As One Act Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto 20 August 2020 Mr. President:  How I wish we could report back a pandemic response

SB 1520: Medical Scholarship Act Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto 14 September 2020 Mr. President: Against diseases, we have to find a vaccine. But when it comes to our collective health, there is a thing called institutional inoculation. This bill inoculates us

EXPLANATION OF VOTE SB 1564: Bayanihan to Recover As One Act Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto 28 July 2020 Mr. President:  Today we hit the ground running as befits the call of the times.  The virus may be faster than the bureaucracy, but it should not be

We have just emerged from the world’s longest lockdown—75 days—when 109 million of us in the 13th most populous country in the planet hunkered down to stop the virus. Although it spared us from digging mass graves, it, however, buried businesses in unpaid bills, our people in

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto 13 May 2020 A medical diploma carries a hefty price tag in this country. Tuition is so high, and other fees so prohibitive, that the joke is that medical schools should put a recovery room beside the school cashier. Or deploy crash

I vote ‘Yes’ to this measure, Mr. President.  In reality, the main challenge is not to expand the coverage of the Legal Assistance Fund, but to increase its funding.  It is not about having more slices out of the pie, but how to make that pie bigger. Because the current