Tag

// 18th Congress
NOV
20
2020

Not all SUC students are funded equal but average is P80,000 per student a year

In my interpellation of the CHED budget, I cited last year’s annual per student cost. The rough calculation was on a per regional basis and I agree that data should be unbundled per school to have a clearer picture. I hope that my rudimentary presentation triggers a healthy
NOV
20
2020

2.3 M learners remain in the “dark ages”, in homes without electricity

Ten percent of country’s students remain in the “dark ages”, in communities unreached by electricity—effectively insulating them from distance learning dependent on gadgets that run on power. This plight of about 2.25 million Department of Education learners emerged in the course
NOV
19
2020

Jobless “Millennials, Miss” hardest hit by economic slump

Government has been urged to make its unemployment cash aid program “more granular”, focusing on women and youth workers who have been hardest hit by pandemic-triggered business closures. The call was made by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, who said that both government
NOV
19
2020

Low budget for vaccines, to be bought by agency “auto-immune to efficiency”

Proposed funding in the 2021 national budget for the purchase and delivery of coronavirus vaccine will cover only 1 in 5 Filipinos, and that is based on the tentative price of the cheapest vaccine being developed, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said today. Compounding
NOV
19
2020

COVID-19 impact on PhilHealth finances nil, budget debates reveal

Concerns that PhilHealth is taking a financial hit due to the coronavirus has no basis, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said, after data on its COVID-19-related reimbursements was revealed during the Senate debate on the Department of Health’s 2021 budget. Of the state
NOV
18
2020

DSWD should “play Santa and distribute P80 B worth of undisbursed aid.”

With 7 weeks left in the year, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto is pressing DSWD “to act like a Santa Claus on overdrive” and quickly disburse some P80 billion remaining in its 2020 budget, prioritizing victims of the three typhoons which have devastated a wide swath of
NOV
18
2020

Not defund, but more funds for SUCs, especially UP’s PGH

No state university or college should get a budget cut. The amount in the proposed budget should be retained, and will be benchmarked as the floor, meaning it can still be increased. Calls for academic freeze will not be met with a funding brake. The correct response is not to
NOV
16
2020

Gov’t is underspending, “funds must be released like waters in dams”—Recto

Stepped up spending is the best calamity response, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said, “as keeping funds in the treasury is like withholding rice in the bodegas when people are hungry.” Recto said billions in unreleased balances in the 2020 national budget should now
NOV
16
2020

Recto: Budget must fund rehab of ‘agri powerhouses’ that feed the nation or hunger looms

In a country that sits atop the earthquake corridor and is the doormat to the typhoon alley, it is but inevitable that disasters become macroeconomic assumptions of the national budget. Typhoons, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions do not only rearrange the lay of the land,
NOV
11
2020

Recto to PITC: Waive commission in buying COVID-19 vaccine

If the DTI-attached Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) is the designated COVID-19 vaccine buyer, then it should waive its customary 1 percent to 4 percent service fee. This is not the time to reap a pandemic windfall. When private corporations are waiving fees