Speeches

Mr. President: I have been advocating for a PhilHealth-based national ID card long before I was elected to this body. Years ago, when the plan to create a national ID system was driven by security concerns, I countered that such an ID will only garner high social acceptability if

The last time I stood here, I exhorted us to use, so to speak, our coconuts to drop the perpetual approach in rehabilitating the coconut industry and opt for a faster reconstruction timetable with a fixed deadline. I said that if an industry is in crisis, efforts to revive it

Remarks of Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto Mr. President: When it comes to diagnosing the ills of the coconut industry, I share the same findings with my esteemed colleagues. Nine out of 10 live below poverty line. The irony of their penury is best captured by this

Mr. President: There is a saying that in making laws, it is the politicians who write the bill, but it is the people who foot the bill. Campaign promises are free; redeeming them is what is costly. Lawmakers get the credit, but it is the taxpayers who raise the cash. Yes, the

Explanation of Vote: Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph G. Recto I am voting in the affirmative, Mr. President, with the manifestation that to further improve the bill, three provisions should be

Mr. President, my dear colleagues: The nominee is my seatmate in the Arroyo Cabinet, which was when I saw how good a doctor he is. When I dug into a bag of chicharon, he never lectured me about cholesterol; when wine was served, he saw to it that my glass was always full; and

National Child Feeding Program: One Recipe Against Rising GNP – Gutom na Pilipino Explanation of Vote Speech on Senate Bill 1279: Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto* The good news is that our GDP is increasing. The bad

Our soon-to-be man in Washington DC is no babe in the woods in US affairs. Though principally based in Manila, he has enough contacts in the American capital that he can be considered a Beltway insider. So wide is his network, I was told, that should Trump drain the swamp, those

Thank you very much for that kind introduction. I endured four years of college lectures, so you can just imagine how excited I am to finally return the favor, and this time torture you with a winding—and windy—speech only a senator can inflict. Let me assure you that I will keep