As soon as the national government can afford, a larger percentage of the Internal Revenue allotment should be given to local government units. It is… - Francis Escudero

If you look at the history of the United States, which has a long history of democracy, you would see they committed the same mistakes over and over until they finally learned from them. The same, I think, goes for the Philippines. Even you look older democracies in Europe, the same story would be true.

We must raise the quality of government service. We must work together and help one another to forge into reality our collective dream of a progressive, developed, orderly, and happy nation, where justice prevails and peace reigns! A country where every Filipino is treated equally, where no one is left behind.

House Bill No. 5237 passed by the House of Representatives on third and final reading yesterday identifies three (3) classifications of projects contained in this measure, Mr. President. First are the projects that have remained unpaid and outstanding after being declared unconstitutional in the Supreme Court ruling on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). These projects, amounting to a total of P1,902,744,124 were commenced or completed prior to the Supreme Court’s PDAF ruling and are all valid obligations incurred by the government.