Francis Escudero on Politics

"• Increase of P15 million for the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos for the Hajj Travel Assistance and Endowment Administration Services;"

"We must enlist the best and the brightest to serve in government, and pay them a salary equivalent to what they would earn in the private sector."

"Black propaganda and negative politics don't and won't work here/elsewhere simply because of one thing - it is based on a lie."

"To succeed in enticing investors, we submit that whoever becomes President should focus on 6 areas of priority:"

"The best evidence that we are still in a democracy is the fact that there is still an opposition."

"The continuing role of the government is to remove barriers and provide wider access to healthcare assistance which is a universal basic service."

"I deplore the decision of the junta in Myanmar to continue the illegal house arrest of Nobel peace prize laureate and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi."

"On this note, Mr. President, distinguish colleagues, it is my distinct honor and privilege to nominate Senator Ralph Recto as our President Pro Tempore."

"This is a matter of national shame and pride. We must stand up and clean our backyard."

"All such shenanigans bring up the cost of doing business in this country."

"The next president will appoint and delegate over 5,000 people in government who will fill positions in 500 agencies, and will spend 18 trillion pesos over a six-year term."

"We must have a stable policy environment. No more ATRAS - ABANTE."

"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."

"We will work together and unite in our mission, and this is the only way for us to equally serve and listen to every Filipino, whether they voted for us or not, whether they support us or not."

"The current situation in the country is, sad to say, unacceptable. The state of internet speed is pathetic, and unless we remedy this situation, our IT sector is likely to suffer in the long term."

"Mr. President, distinguished colleagues."

"The government does not have the mandate to create jobs. This should be the function of the private sector but the government should provide policy support for businesses to generate permanent or long-term jobs."

"For me, every sentence in our history should end, not with a period, but with an exclamation mark. Nowadays, “good enough” is not good enough! If we truly desire progress, we cannot be lazy. We cannot have a slow government."

"I am happy and humbled by the continued confidence by the people, but what is important is that public servants seeking the people’s vote like me continue to work to prove that we are worthy of the positions entrusted to us."

"• Special provisions on lump sum funds which states that savings from the said funds are deemed savings of the Executive Branch were amended to make it available to all three branches of the government including Constitutional Offices;"

"We want people to remember what should be remembered on how fraud was committed to rob FPJ of his rightful place in history and on how people who voted for him of their political rights to install the president of their choice were also cheated."

"We must follow the principle of subsidiarity -- devolving authority to the lowest level of government which can handle the problem. Regions and provinces, cities and municipalities are tired of waiting for Imperial Manila to act on their problems."

"In a democracy, the search for the truth and the right to peaceably assembly and petition government for redress of grievances should co-exist. These rights are not mutually exclusive and both should be simultaneously pursued, guaranteed and defended in accordance with the Constitution."

"The least that government can do for our athletes in general is to show that they have our support. We ask them to carry our flag and compete with the highest possible degree of sportsmanship and excellence while representing our country. Government should be able to ensure their safety."

"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 presently 20%. By devolving added responsibilities, this could eventually go to 60%. This would speed up the development of the countryside."

"Augmentation, on the other hand, Mr. President, is defined in the GAB as the act of filling up a deficiency in any existing P/A/P of an agency or office from savings in other items of the said agency’s appropriations, and therefore, a non-existent P/A/P cannot be funded by augmentation from savings."

"And because he believes numbers don’t lie, he minces no words in explaining them, and will not consult the political weather bulletin on when to expose them. So much so, that he sometimes sails against the wind, driven only by the motto set by his grandfather, who also once sat here, that one must do what is right over what is popular."

"The government has to be proactive and prepare for the worst-case scenario. Our farmers have to be given all kinds of assistance to make up for the projected crop losses because of the drying up of farmlands. Our farmers are going to need all the help they can get in the coming months, and national agencies should be ready to work with local governments to pull our farmers through this difficult season."

"I totally agree that there is an implementation cost needed to actuate a program. And yes, we need to monitor the implementation of our programs and projects to ensure accountability and judicious use of public funds, but it should not be that expensive. Our government already has an existing machinery and mechanism to precisely do that. We have the Commission on Audit, why do we need this redundancy of functions?"

"The Solicitor General, the statutorily appointed lawyer of the Philippine government, and 10 other solicitors are of the firm belief that Senator Grace Poe is a natural-born Filipino. This is vindication for the majority of the SET, who were criticized by some sectors for deciding supposedly based on political and emotional considerations. No less than the OSG recognizes that the Constitution and its framers never wanted to discriminate against foundlings and that foundlings were always meant to be natural-born Filipinos—which is what Senator Grace has been saying all along."