News Roundup 11 January 2024
Jan 11, 2024 • 4 min Read
Ralph Recto named as new Finance secretary | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto has been named as the new secretary of the Department of Finance, according to lawmakers.
In a statement, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that he welcomes Recto’s appointment as the new Finance chief, remarking that Recto was known in the Senate as the “resident numbers genius.”
“More than most, he understands how to bridge the gap between the abstractions of mathematics and the very concrete realities that we face as a nation,” Zubiri said.
House ways and means chairperson and Recto’s colleague in the lower chamber, Rep. Joey Salceda (Albay, 3rd District), also said in an earlier statement that Recto’s appointment was “likely.”
Salceda said Recto will bring to his new role “a wealth of experience in economic legislation and deep and longstanding relationships with members of Congress.”
The lawmaker added that Recto’s background as a tax reformer and a senator who chaired the Senate Ways and Means panel will aid toward “meaningful reforms to address cost of living, create employment, and expand our fiscal space.”
Recto is replacing outgoing Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
Full Story at: Ralph Recto named as new Finance secretary | Philstar.com
US says fuel delivery to Philippines done via ‘proper channels’ | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The delivery of fuel from a naval base in Hawaii to Zambales was coordinated through “proper channels,” the United States government said on Thursday.
Kanishka Gangopadhyay, a spokesperson for the US Embassy in Manila, confirmed that commercial tanker Yosemite Trader is currently in the vicinity of Subic Bay to transfer clean fuel from the US military facility at Red Hill in Pearl Harbor.
Sen. Imee Marcos on Wednesday criticized the “inexplicable silence” of both Manila and Washington on the shipment of 39 million gallons of fuel from the US Navy.
The president’s sister, who chairs the Senate committee on foreign relations, said this raises suspicions that the delivery of fuel was in anticipation of a war erupting between China and the US over Taiwan.
The US Embassy, however, said the fuel transport was “one of multiple shipments of safe, clean fuel” to other locations in the Pacific.
Full Story at: US says fuel delivery to Philippines done via ‘proper channels’ | Philstar.com
Pirma is back: Charter change drive on air, on ground | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Television viewers were bombarded on Tuesday night with the repeated airing of a commercial that sought to discredit the Constitution and the Edsa People Power Revolution, in a campaign mounted by the same group that tried to revise it through a people’s initiative during the Ramos administration.
The ad, which ran during primetime news programs on various networks, made its debut amid persistent talk that national and local government agencies were being used to gather signatures for pro-charter change petitions nationwide.
On Wednesday, it came to light that the advertisement had been paid for by the Gana Atienza Avisado law firm on behalf of its client, the People’s Initiative for Reform Modernization and Action (Pirma), which was known for an unsuccessful attempt to remove constitutional term limits on elected officials, including the President and the Vice President, in 1997.
Harping on the theme “Edsa-pwera” (a play on the vernacular “etsapuwera,” or excluded), the ad claimed that the Constitution had failed to deliver on its promises to improve education and agriculture, saying any gain made was felt only by big businesses and monopolies.
“It’s time to take action,” it said. “It’s time to rectify the defective 1987 Constitution. Gawing ‘saligang patas’ ang Saligang Batas. [Make it a fair Constitution].”
Full Story at: Pirma is back: Charter change drive on air, on ground | Inquirer News
Villanueva: Don’t deceive people that Cha-cha can resolve PH problems | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — A single appeal was all Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva could utter amid the controversial push for the amendment of the 1987 Constitution: “Let’s not deceive the people that we need the Charter change (Cha-cha) to solve society’s problems.”
Villanueva made the appeal on Thursday, saying “deception and threats” in line with personal political interests tucked in this Cha-cha push should stop.
“Tigilan na po ang paglapastangan at pagmamanipula sa ating mga kababayan. Marunong silang mag-isip. Hindi nabibili ang kanilang opinyon. Hindi for sale ang Pilipino,” said Villanueva in a statement.
(Stop defaming and manipulating our countrymen. They know how to think. Their opinion cannot be bought. Filipinos are not for sale.)
Villanueva issued his statement amid allegations that a people’s initiative method to amend the 1987 Constitution is being conducted.
Full Story at: Villanueva: Cha-cha doesn’t resolve all of PH problems (inquirer.net)
