Villar wants better collection of taxes

MANILA, Philippines – Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manuel Villar Jr. aims to focus on more efficient tax collection, good use of pork barrel and strategic borrowing to steer the country to economic stability if he is elected president.

Speaking at the Presidential Policy Forum sponsored by the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation in Makati Thursday, Villar said the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs should clamp down on corruption to be able to increase tax collection.

“Right now we are collecting 13 to 14 percent,” he said. “During the time of FVR (referring to former, this used to be 17 percent. We lost about three to four percent; that represents about P250 (billion) to P280 billion (in taxes).”

“That’s a lot. It should go back to 17 percent. So we should address corruption and implement more efficient collection,” he added.

Villar said the pork barrel can be redesigned to finance the favorite projects of lawmakers. 

“For example, you can say that all the pork barrel for the first year should be used to build classrooms,” he said. “So that addresses your problem through the pork barrel without eliminating it.”

Villar said it is important for the new president to be able to show the country and the world that he means serious business to lure more foreign investors. 

Biddings must be broadcast on television to show transparency in government transactions, he added.

Villar said the government can also fuse in “strategic borrowing” for priority areas like health access for every Filipino.

“I think strategic borrowing can be done,” he said. “I really feel we have to borrow for our Department of Health (DOH) obligation of the state.”

During the same forum, Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro Jr. said the government cannot cut its budget to prioritize some other areas.

“In the aftermath of last year’s global financial situation, I don’t think there is any program we can cut. It’s a hard choice to make,” he said.

“It’s a hard choice to make between program on investment, on education, ameliorate our farmers who lost P20 billion in the last quarter of last year and P6 billion of fixed investments in irrigation,” he said.

Teodoro said the public needs to support the troops who are keeping the peace in Mindanao.

The government must also spend on disaster relief and response in anticipation of droughts, he added.

Teodoro said he agrees with Villar’s proposal on strategic borrowing.

“I agree that we should focus on revenue collection and some, as Sen. Villar says, on strategic borrowing such as the $1.5-billion bond float that happened last week, which was oversubscribed,” he said.