Francis Escudero Quotes

Thank you, Mr. President and thank you distinguished colleagues. We ask earnestly for your help in the timely passage of the 2015 National Budget. At this junction, Mr. President, may I ask that we recognize Senate President Pro-Tempore Recto.

Lastly, we must lower bureaucratic costs. This refers to "under the table" payments.

a) Discontinuance or abandonment of the program, activity, or project (P/A/P) as a result of natural or man-made calamities that hindered the agency from implementing the said P/A/P at any time during the validity of the appropriations;

I condemn in strongest possible terms, the murder of Jennifer Laude (Jeffrey Laude). The police and prosecutors should act fast, lest the prescriptive period to be breached. In the meantime, as before, I call on and urge the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to revisit and seek the amendment of the lopsided criminal jurisdiction provision of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

And why the need for a tightrope balancing act in the execution of the FY 2015 national budget, particularly with respect to the Supreme Court decision on the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program?

In a market economy, this means striving for higher family income, a highly educated and/or trainable workforce, better health care, affordable food and housing and peaceful communities.

The President’s proposed budget for FY 2015 under the N.E.P. or the National Expenditure Program amounts to P2.606 trillion, reflecting an increase of P341.372 billion or 15.07% higher than the Fiscal Year 2014 budget. It is anchored on a real GDP projection of 7-8%, an inflation rate of 2-4%, 364-day T-Bill rate of 2-4%, and a foreign exchange rate of P42-45 to the dollar.

Third. The funding of projects, activities, and programs that were not covered by any appropriation in the GAA. The law prohibits, according to the court, the augmentation of a non-existent program, activity, or project with an appropriation in terms of specific allotment classes, either Personal Services, Maintenance and other Operating Expenses, and/or Capital Outlays within the subject GAA.

I have been espousing for transparency in government to curb graft and corruption. I filed this bill on waiver on bank secrecy in 2010 and continuously pursues this advocacy in the Senate.

The 92-page court en banc decision penned by Justice Lucas P. Bersamin ruled that there are three (3) acts and practices under the DAP which are deemed “UNCONSTITUTIONAL for being in violation of Section 25(5), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution and the doctrine of separation of powers.”

Today, we are ranked so poorly in achievement scores. The average high school graduate in Japan has a better knowledge of science and mathematics than the average Filipino college graduate.

In this highly competitive world, there is a crying need for the government to assure that schools in the country, for one, are able to produce graduates who have the capability to find quality work that mostly requires a sufficient level of technology skills.

Again, good morning, thank you, and long live the Filipino people!

A Government with Heart to protect victims of corruption, crime, and abuse.

• Amendment in the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund and the Pension and Gratuity Fund, requiring the DBM to submit, within the first quarter, to Congress the amounts allocated to the Judicial Branch, Legislative Branch, Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman, and that in no case shall releases to the said offices exceed the amount submitted to Congress also for purposes of utilizing these as savings to augment the budget of these constitutional offices;