Classroom shortage

Saying that the classroom shortage controversy is symptomatic of the education sector’s dire lack of budgetary support, Sen. Mar Roxas said the first step towards having a permanent solution is recognizing the dimensions of the real problem. “The confusion and disagreement on the true state of the country’s classroom shortage bring to the fore the one thing we all need to recognize: that the education sector, particularly basic education requirements which include classrooms, lack not only money but also the political will to look for and devote money for education,” Roxas said. (Manila Times)

Christmas is slow for business

PRICES of consumer goods have remained stable for the past three months, and are expected to be stable until Christmas. Despite this, Senator Mar Roxas sees that Christmas will be slow for businesses, both retailers and producers. (Sun.Star Iloilo)

Chacha distracted gov't from better economic performance, claims Sen. Roxas

Commenting on the economic performance of the country during the 3rd quarter of the year as presented by National Economic and Development Authority Secretary General Romulo L. Neri yesterday, Senator Mar Roxas said that the economic figures for the period would have been different had the government not been distracted by political things such as the Cha-cha. (PIA)

Biofuel Act approved in Bicam

The Biofuels Act of 2006 was approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee on Energy. Despite the transitory provisions removed, Sen. Mar Roxas (co-author of the proposed measure) noted that the cooperation was unprecedented in Philippine legislative history in that the sugar industry even took into consideration the protection of the interests of Filipino consumers.

The absent leader - Roxas replied

Senator Mar Roxas replied to Isagani Cruz who referred to the Senator in one of his columns as "The absent leader".

Roxas vows to preserve LP independence

"The Liberal Party will always fight for preserving its independence and shall resist outside influences and interference," said LP Executive Vice President Mar Roxas in a statement welcoming the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court stopping party elections set by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Nov. 13 at the Manila Hotel. (Balita)

Drop Plan B

Senator Manuel Roxas III, an opponent of Charter Change, urged the House of Representatives to drop “Plan B”—to convene Congress as a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution—now that the people’s initiative had failed. (ManilaStandard Today)

plug: ituloy angsulong

Senator favors oil siphoning from sunken tanker

FOR Senator Mar Roxas, siphoning the remaining bunker fuel from the sunken tanker is the best and safest option to contain the oil spill. (Sun.Star Bacolod)

Just last month, the Province of Guimaras headed by Governor JC Rahman Nava Wednesday formally received financial assistance amounting to P1.1 million from the officials of the Capiz Government as well as Senator Mar Roxas. (Sun.Star Iloilo)

Biofuels bill undergoing final amendments

Senator Mar Roxas said that the proposed Biofuels Act, which requires the blending of bioethanol with gasoline, is undergoing final amendments in the Senate and he expects it to pass before its sessions end in October. (The Visayan Daily Star and Sun.Star Bacolod)

Roxas seeks inquiry on SME credit order, questions Malacañang decision on microfinance

SENATOR Manuel Roxas II questioned Malacanang's repeal of Executive Order 138, which makes credit available to small and medium enterprises and solved problems in the government’s inefficient directed credit programs. (The Visayan Daily Star and Inq7)

Roxas says retake of nursing board exams right thing to do

SEN. Mar Roxas lauds the President for requiring a retake of the June 2006 Nursing Licensure Examination. In a statement issued on Thursday, the senator said a retake is necessary to redeem the integrity and credibility of the nursing profession. He noted that the licensure and accreditation system administered by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) suffered a serious blow because of the reported leakage of the questions. “Never mind if the decision came late,” Roxas said of the President’s decision. “It’s still the right thing to do.” (Manila Times)

Roxas warns commission against CAP permit renewal

Senator Manuel Roxas II yesterday cautioned the Securities and Exchange Commission against renewing the license of College Assurance Plan to sell preneed plans. Roxas issued the warning following reports that Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Cesar Untalan asked SEC to consider renewing CAP’s license, which has been suspended since 2004 after it ran into financial problems. (Manila Standard Today)

Senator pushes for Philippine Trade Representative Office

SENATOR Manuel Roxas III on Thursday pushed for the creation of a Philippine Trade Representative Office, saying foreign service officers cannot properly negotiate in behalf of the country because of the "go-along to get-along" nature of their office. At the policy forum sponsored by the Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development Foundation Inc. (PLCPD), the former trade secretary said, "The battle I found is not necessarily so much trade [officials] versus agriculture [officials], it's really trade-agri-NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority), doing the work for services, versus the foreign service." (Inq7)

Spare no one from security check

Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas III yesterday prodded authorities to address security lapses in airports, stressing that the security checks should not exempt anybody, not even high-ranking government officials or influential people. “Anybody who tries to pull rank, flashes a badge, or drops important names to evade these security checks should be arrested and questioned on the spot by our airport security,” Roxas said. (Manila Standard Today)

Quality affordable medicines for all

Excerpted from the sponsorship speech on Senate Bill No. 2263 to make the laws on patents, trade names and trade marks more responsive to the health needs of the Filipino people delivered at the Senate session hall on August 16, 2006.

Sen. Roxas urges team approach in evacuation

SEN. Manuel Roxas said on Friday that the government’s contingency plan to evacuate thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) caught in the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon could be implemented smoothly if Philippine officials would hew closely to the “team one-country approach” that is mandated by law. (The Manila Times)

Roxas steps into abduction of students

Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II yesterday vowed to help locate two students of the University of the Philippines who were abducted by unidentified armed men in Bulacan. (Manila Standard Today)

Palace pressured Maliksi

SENATOR Mar Roxas accused Malacañang of pressuring Cavite Governor Ayong Maliksi for his sudden shift of support to Liberal Party-Atienza wing. (People's Tonight)

Mar denies blocking of biofuels bill

Senator Mar Roxas Saturday vehemently denied that he is blocking the Biofuels Act and has adopted the Caltex-Chevron position against the mandatory blending of biofuels, which includes ethanol from sugarcane. (The Visayan Daily Star)

Smoke and mirrors

Maya Baltazar Herrera wrote an interesting column piece after listening to Sen. Roxas speech addressed to AIM alumni association. (Manila Standard)

Roxas pushed budget increase for education

Sen. Manuel Roxas II, for his part, called for an increase of P9.18 billion in the national budget to address the shortage of classrooms, teachers, chairs and books. Roxas reiterated that the only way to remedy the classroom lack and other basic education problems is for the government to exercise political will in redirecting resources to education. (Philstar)

P9.18-B additional budget for DepEd sought

INSISTING that education and human resource development should take precedence over other state priorities, Sen. Mar Roxas yesterday sought an extra P9.8-billion budget for the Department of Education. (Journal)

Use int’l summit exposure to market Cebu’s potentials

Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said Cebu should market its investment potentials during the gathering of the heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and their dialogue partners, including the United States and China. The Asean summit in December offers a huge economic opportunity for Cebu and the business sector must take advantage of this. (Sun.Star)

Rising human rights abuses alarm Roxas

ADMINISTRATION Senator Mar Roxas yesterday expressed alarm over the rising tide of human rights abuses following the abduction of supporters of detained President Joseph Estrada by military agents. (Inq7)

Consumer spending bears brunt of tough times

PRICES of basic commodities remain stable but people are buying less than before, forcing manufacturers, retailers, hog and poultry raisers, and market vendors to absorb higher costs to stay in business. This was the conclusion of Senator Manuel Roxas II after the hearing of the Senate committees on trade, industry and commerce to monitor the prices of food, fuel, and other basic items. (More at Inq7Money and Manila Standard Today)

ROXAS WARNS OF FUEL PRICE HIKES OF UP TO P3 PER LITER

Sen. Manuel Roxas II warned yesterday of an additional total increase of P3.86 per liter hike in the pump prices of oil products and more than P1 for diesel over the next two weeks.
Quoting reports by the country managers of the three big oil players — Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Co. and Caltex Philippines Inc. — during Senate hearing on prices of basic commodities and fuel, Roxas said the "regime of oil prices will continue to be a fact of life." (Newsflash)

Roxas sets meeting on prices

According to Manila Standard, Senator Mar Roxas, chairman of the committees on economic affairs and trade and commerce, will convene a large joint meeting with government officials, oil company executives, manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, supermarket owners, meat and poultry producers, consumerists and market vendors, including food and beverage manufacturers and packaging company officials, to assess the movement of prices and obtain updates on the supply and demand of prime commodities in the wake of the successive oil price increases and devastation wrought by tropical storm Caloy.

Leave the soldiers alone!

Sen. Roxas cautioned Malacañang against dragging the Armed Forces into partisan politics amid recent moves of the Palace-backed Charter change advocacy group seeking the military’s support to effect constitutional amendments. (Journal Online)

Sen. Roxas urges gov't to exempt power rates from E-VAT

Sen. Mar Roxas has urged the government not only to defer the implementation of E-VAT on power rates but totally exempt it from the said tax. (Source: MindaNews)

Roxas asks gov’t to seek ways to find work for new grads

According to the Manila Bulletin and PJI, Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas II asked the national government to seek ways of finding work for the estimated 450,000 new graduates "which is a unifying element of governance and a sound economic strategy" rather than continue pushing for the controversial "People’s Initiative" to amend the Constitution.

Roxas launches information campaign against the people's initiative

In a statement, Senator Manuel Roxas III said his group, which is aligned with Senate President Franklin Drilon, would begin a grassroots information campaign after the Holy Week to present their arguments against the people’s initiative. (The Manila Times)

Signature drive for Charter change alarms bishops

According to Sun.Star, Caloocan City Bishop Deogracias Iniguez said members of the Senate have sought the support of the bishops' group in opposing changes to the Charter. During the meeting, Iniguez said Roxas asked for the CBCP's support in opposing the proposed Charter change being pushed through a people's initiative.

RP must create central trade agency

According to Inq7 Global Nation and The Mindanao Daily Mirror, the Philippines must create a central agency that will formulate international trade policies, handle trade negotiations, and make sense of all state functions related to global trade, Senator Manuel Roxas II said Wednesday. (Favorable feedback from The Manila Times)

Philippine lawmaker seeks broadband probe

According to Telecom Asia Daily, Senator Manuel Roxas III filed Senate Resolution 474 to probe the consumer concerns on the quality of broadband wireless service in the country.

Bohol should be competitive

The province should package her investment proposals in a way which is competitive to the global market. This point was stressed by Sen. Mar Roxas in his address during the general assembly of the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (BCCI) at the Bohol Tropics last Friday.

For the full story, visit The Bohol Chronicle.

Marines' rebellion loosens Arroyo's grip on power

"There's a disgruntlement, there is unhappiness but it hasn't reached critical mass yet," said Senator Mar Roxas. "The average person may be angry and disappointed but not yet enough to force the issue on the streets."
For the full story, read The Guardian.

Gov’t urged to rethink tax incentives for BPO

Five years into making a mark in the global outsourcing arena, the Philippines needs to “reconfigure” tax incentives afforded to foreign investors and instead, channel these incentives into improving the country’s workforce. Senator and former Trade and Industry secretary Mar Roxas raised this point in a speech delivered during the annual E-services Conference before an audience composed of people from the local contact center and BPO sectors.

Read Computerworld and Inq7 for the full story.

Reduced medicine prices remain elusive

"PEOPLE are dying because medicines are expensive."

Thus said Senate trade and commerce committee chairman Sen. Manuel Roxas II, explaining his support for a bill that proposes to overhaul the Intellectual Property Code to pave the way for cheaper pharmaceuticals.

Read Inq7 for the full story.

Use people power for good governance

SEN. Mar Roxas on Thursday called on the government and young Filipinos to work toward the governance goals that were at the core of people power in order to lift the country from its political doldrums and redeem its full potential.

Read The Manila Times, The Mindanao Daily Mirror, and Manila Bulletin for the full story.

Strong peso should mean cheaper goods

THE strong peso should mean cheaper goods, especially those that use imported products like fuel, tin, aluminum, glass, flour, milk, and other raw materials, Senator Manuel Roxas II said Saturday.

For the full story, read Inq7 and the Manila Times. Read Fritz's observation and Sassy Lawyer's column too.

VAT proceeds cannot drive economy

Despite the touted economic gains from it, the increase in the VAT won’t translate to higher economic growth, said Sen. Manuel Roxas II, citing the government’s limited allocation for infrastructure spending.
Read the Manila Times for the full story.

Let ordinary people feel peso's rise

THE positive gains in the Philippine financial markets have not been felt in the everyday lives of ordinary Filipinos, Senator Manuel Roxas II said Wednesday.
For the full story, read the Manila Bulletin, Inq7.net, and the Mindanao Daily Mirror.