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.