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)

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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)