Ralph Gonzalez Recto is an ultimate public servant - competent, dedicated, diplomatic, and honest. His devotion to family and community, unrelenting desire to make a better life for others, consummate passion for his work, and interactive leadership style serve as the firm foundation upon which he built a reputation as a young and committed leader whether as a legislator or a national executive.

 

His independence makes him an exemplary and notable public official, the catalyst that makes us see through our faults in his stinging but profound statements. He can never be boxed into a myopic position to the disdain of his critics. He is not one to shun the rough waters of public opinion when he tackles unpopular measures. He faces them head on, but in ways that disarm the enemy. Whoever initially opposes him is soon converted into an ally.

 

Family and personal life

 

Ralph Recto’s political lineage is traced to the late nationalist and statesman Claro Mayo Recto, who was a senator for several terms and himself a descendant of the patriotic Mayo and Recto clans of Luzon. Ralph is the second child of three of lawyer Rafael Recto who was an Assemblyman during the Regular Batasang Pambansa and Carmen Gonzalez Recto whose family hails from Pangasinan.

 

He is married to Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto of Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, father to Ryan Christian and stepfather to Luis Philippe Manzano.

 

Education

 

Recto has two Master’s Degrees – one in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines, Diliman and another in Strategic Business Economics from the University of Asia and the Pacific. He also took up a Leadership Course at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. He acquired a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at the De La Salle University-Manila. His elementary years were spent at the Ateneo de Manila University while his High school diploma was received from the De la Salle University.

 

In 2009, he was conferred a degree of Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa by the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology.

 

At the National Economic and Development Authority

 

After the elections of 2007, Recto joined the board of the Union Bank of the Philippines as an Independent Director. On July 23, 2008, he was named as the new Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority.

 

As NEDA chief, Ralph helped craft and monitor the government’s Economic Resiliency Plan (ERP), which served as the Philippines’ pump-priming program. The ERP implementation involved the frontloading of government spending during the first half of 2009 and increased spending for social services and infrastructure. Moreover, he proposed a new economic plan for the next year initially dubbed as REAP (Reloading Economic Acceleration Plan) to protect the gains made from the ERP and prepare the country for the anticipated economic rebound. He also set in place a more institutionalized monitoring of global and local events as they affect the Philippine economy.

 

Ralph advocated various development issues such as a transparent oil pricing scheme to protect consumers as well as a greater transparency in government project implementation. He also backed innovations in the green industry and technology in the Philippines and signed a climate change program with the United Nations and the Spanish Government. In addition, Ralph pushed for deeper engagements with China and other growth regions such as the Middle East.

 

During his term as NEDA Director-General, Ralph instituted the adoption of value engineering in infrastructure projects to help cut costs, minimize delays and strengthen the ICC process. He introduced an employment odometer for all government projects/initiatives to estimate the number of jobs that can be created.

 

Ralph also advocated the enhancement of the performance review of the Philippine government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) portfolio to help improve the country’s absorptive capacity, speed up the implementation of development programs and projects, and manage for development results.

 

At the House of Representatives

 

He holds the distinction of being the youngest elected member of the House of Representatives during the 9th Congress. He is also recognized for the unprecedented record in the congressional election history of Batangas for winning in all precincts, barangays, and municipalities together with Lipa City in the 1995 and 1998 elections. He garnered 98% of the votes cast in those two elections in the 4th District of Batangas.

 

During his three terms (from 1992 to 2001) as Member of the House of Representatives, his legislative measures enacted into law mostly dealt with economic reforms and poverty alleviation. Among which are the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act; the Philippine Economic Zone Law; Amendment to the Special Economic Zone Law; the Retail Trade Liberalization Law; Regional Headquarters Law and the Comprehensive Tax Reform Law.

 

At the Philippine Senate

 

Recto was elected to the Senate in 2001, becoming the youngest Senator of the 12th Congress at the age of 37. He chaired the Committees on Ways and Means and on Trade and Industry.

 

Recto learned the nuances of lawmaking as one of the youngest legislators in both Houses of Congress. The diligence he puts into each law that he shepherds continues to draw the respect and admiration from peers including those on the other side of the political fence. The august halls of Congress have heard his resonant voice that all these years remained truthful and logical, yet spirited and candid.

 

Being the youngest Senator of the 12th Congress has not deterred him from ably steering the powerful Ways and Means Committee that traditionally is assigned to senior Senators. He, likewise, led the unmasking of foreign hands subverting the work of the Senate and other government offices.

 

A deep sense of equity and fairness defined his balanced handling and scrutiny of tax measures. In all cases, he assigned great value on the peoples' needs in the face of contending government and industry concerns. He was also identified with warning calls on ballooning budget deficits, public debt and unemployment, among other crucial issues.

 

He was co-chairman of the Congressional Oversight Committees on the Proper Implementation of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) and on the Official Development Assistance (ODA). Sensitivity to the welfare of government employees also marked his chairing of the Accounts committee dealing with the Senate budget.

 

During his first six-year term as Senator, he was largely responsible for the passage of laws with positive impact to consumers, small entrepreneurs, workers and industry.

 

In 2010, Recto was reelected to the Senate. He chaired the Committees on Ways and Means and on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises. He was again co-chairman of the Oversight Committees on the Proper Implementation of the NIRC, and on the ODA. His vice chairmanship include the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Public Services.

 

The Senator has continued his advocacy for GSIS members’ rights, more jobs, expanded health coverage, prudent but calculated public spending, tax breaks for working families, a responsive education program and a vibrant agriculture sector.

 

Recto also pushed for the rationalization of GOCC functions such that they focus on their core mandates and allow regular government agencies to deliver the social services. Thus, he introduced measures that will source funds for education and health services by earmarking incomes of PCSO and PAGCOR for the purpose and subjecting these to the regular budgetary process for transparency.

 

He continued to champion the everyday struggles of Juan de la Cruz and has come out in their defense in consumer issues like oil prices, power, and transportation fare.

 

He has authored fourteen laws in the 15th Congress including the K to 12 and the Kindergarten Education Acts, the GOCC Governance Act of 2011, the National Electrification Administration Reform Act and the Common Carrier’s Tax Exemption. He has also sponsored bills institutionalizing the rights of GSIS members, increasing SSS pension, granting tax relief to families with dependents, and granting incentives to alternative fuel vehicles, among others.

 

His scholarship program helped 2,635 students from 2011 to present. Congressional funds of P31 million infused by the Senator in government hospitals have so far benefited 4,097 indigent patients. Funding for roads, bridges, school buildings and health centers continue to be the topmost priority of his congressional budget earmarks.

 

In the 16th Congress, Recto was unanimously elected Senate President Pro Tempore by his colleagues, and is currently the chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology and Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Finance. He is ex-officio member of all Senate Permanent Committees.

 

He has filed a total of 75 bills and 26 resolutions mostly covering his advocacies on health, education, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, social security, and consumer protection.

 

Recto believes that a strategic blend of careful and conscientious legislation with effective implementation would make the country an economic force to reckon with in the near future. With inclusive growth, it is expected that the poor and marginalized will share the responsibility and fruits for development.