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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Arroyo proud of Recto, calls him a 'hero' of her administration 

Arroyo proud of Recto, calls him a 'hero' of her administration 

Published Jan 12, 2024 02:19 pm

At A Glance

  • Pampanga 2nd district Representative and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can't help but feel proud of Ralph Recto, who took over as Department of Finance (DOF) secretary Friday, Jan. 12.

20240112_222240.jpgPampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (left), DOF Secretary Ralph Recto (Arroyo's office, Facebook)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pampanga 2nd district Representative and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can't help but feel proud of Ralph Recto, who took over as Department of Finance (DOF) secretary Friday, Jan. 12. 

"I am proud that my former NEDA head, Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto, is now secretary of finance," Arroyo said in a statement Friday night. 

"Congratulations, Ralph. I am confident in your proven political will to do what is right," added the lady lawmaker, who served as Philippine president from 2001 to 2010. 

"As Senator during my administration, he was at the front and center of my fiscal reform legislation. He sponsored the permanent structural solution to our fiscal problems," Arroyo said of Recto, the erstwhile Batangas 6th district congressman and deputy speaker in the House of Representatives. 

Recto served as NEDA director-general from July 23, 2008 to August 16, 2009. 

Needless to say, Recto's body of work made a lasting impression on Arroyo. She went as far as to describe him as a "hero" of her administration. 

"To put in place a long term solution to our fiscal problem, I needed to raise new taxes. Like all epic tales of political battle, there are heroes. For my fiscal reforms, together with Congressman Jesli Lapus, it was Senator Ralph Recto," she said. 

"No one likes taxes, so it was easy for the opposition to attack, and simply to cast the blame on the sponsors of the law. Ralph and Jesli both held the line," recalled Arroyo, also a former House speaker and senior deputy speaker. 

She placed into perspective the high risk that Recto took by backing her administration's tax reform policy. "Ralph entered the battle with a national re-election coming up in 2007, and taxes were a national issue." 

"There is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage, about U.S. senators who defied the opinions of their constituents to do what they felt to be right, and suffered for it. That is what Ralph did," Arroyo said. 

"But his reforms restored our country’s economic health, allowing the Philippines to avoid a recession during the 2008 worldwide crash caused by the US (United States) subprime mortgage crisis," she noted.

Related Tags

gloria macapagal-arroyo ralph recto Department of Finance
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