TUCP eyes labor-focused partnership with new DOF Secretary Recto
At A Glance
- The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is looking forward to building a labor-friendly economy with newly-appointed Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto.

DOF Secretary Ralph Recto (Facebook)
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is looking forward to building a labor-friendly economy with newly-appointed Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto.
In a statement on Friday, Jan. 12, TUCP Party-list Representative and House Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza said it is ready to partner with Recto through pro-labor initiatives.
Particularly, “on the imperative of bringing down skyrocketing prices of basic goods and services, attracting more and better foreign direct investments, and realizing the investment pledges made that should translate to better quality of life and new, permanent, and decent jobs for Filipino workers and their families", the group said.
Mendoza said Recto’s long proven track record in fiscal and economic policy-making vouches for his ability to engage with all kinds of stakeholders to spearhead reforms.
In the executive branch, Recto had formerly served as the head of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA); and in Congress, as chairman of the Senate Committees on Ways and Means and on Trade and Industry, as well as of the House Committee on Economic Affairs.
Following his oath-taking as DOF chief, Recto will relinquish his post as Batangas 6th district representative and as one of the deputy speakers of the House of Representatives.
Mendoza is expecting the new finance head to “get to the roots of food and electricity inflation and solidify the Philippines as a global investment hub where the purchasing power, decent employment, and full rights of working families are safeguarded”.
“The TUCP calls on Finance Secretary Recto and the entire economic management team of the Marcos Administration to promote progressive, worker-centered, and race-to-the-top labor relations to attract investors to set up shop here and generate more and better jobs for all because trade is inextricably tied to the full and free exercise of workers’ rights,” he added.
The lawmaker noted that Recto’s flagship fiscal reform program should be amending the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act and prioritizing the allocation of public funds for the Marcos Administration’s “Build, Better, More” infrastructure program.
“This should be our whole-of-society response to the directive of President Marcos that we must not only grow the economy but ensure that such growth is inclusive and felt by all."