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// Press Release
NOV
26
2020

Soaring food prices to increase number of GNP—Gutom na Pilipino

The next Cabinet meeting should map out plans on how to tame what seems to be runaway prices of food, placing them beyond the reach of households made poorer by the pandemic-caused economic slowdown, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said today. “I think this should be on
NOV
23
2020

Govt’s New Year resolution is zero debt to health workers

Government should adopt as its “New Year’s resolution” the settlement of hazard pay and all outstanding payables to health care workers before the year ends, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said today. “On or before Christmas, bayad na. Or before the clock strikes
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

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
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
10
2020

2021 Budget: Daily revenue of P7.44 B dwarfed by P12.35 B daily expenses

Breaking down next year’s P4.506 trillion national budget on a daily basis reveals “the gravity and the gaps” which the pandemic has wrought upon government spending, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said. “We are budgeting P4.506 trillion next year, of which only P2.717
NOV
10
2020

Sinas’ mission orders, like faster crime response time are in 2021 national budget

Some of the important “mission orders” of newly-appointed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Debold Sinas are spelled out in the “performance guarantees” that the PNP has attached to its P190.8 billion budget request for 2021, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said.
OCT
30
2020

Tap ‘plantreetos, plantreetas’ for govt’s P5B reforestation program next year

Government’s tree-planting drive next year should join other grassroots jobs initiatives, as mobilizing “plantreetos and plantreetas” could shield its proposed P5.1 billion budget from wastage and delays. This is just one of the proposals of Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph