Angara urges lawmakers to have clear reform agenda

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Edgardo Angara called on lawmakers yesterday to adopt a clear agenda for reform as the 15th Congress opens for the next three-year regular session.

Angara particularly urged the Senate leadership to draft the reform agenda for Congress to help the incoming administration.

He also asked president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to put forward reforms that would handle investments and at the same time advised the public to remain vigilant on programs, projects and reforms of the new leaders that would be of high impact in social and economic growth.

“There is a common sentiment among members of the Senate to pursue genuine, honest-to-goodness reform. We want to see a more systematic, more purposeful discussion of public policy - and not just garden-variety legislation but laws of real national significance,” Angara said.

He said Indonesia, an archipelago of 23,000 islands “which owes its economic advance to ample investment in infrastructure,” has outpaced the Philippines in terms of growth.

Angara said there should also be a drastic overhaul of the country’s social services, health care, education system and huge housing backlog.

“These are productivity enhancing activities and provide the foundation for future progress,” he said.

Moreover, he said the government must confront a thick, paralyzing bureaucracy that made governing the country very difficult.

“Presently, the cost of doing business in the Philippines is a serious obstacle to investment and growth. To start a business in the Philippines, it takes 15 procedures and 52 days. We must cut red tape, reduce the number of steps to the minimum, and lessen the signatures needed to do business. In the process, we not only promote efficiency but also reduce corruption in government transactions,” the former Senate president said, adding that the new administration must improve business environment “and (we) must do it fast.”

Angara, who authored the Corporate Recovery and Insolvency Act, sought to establish a more systematic framework for insolvency proceedings and provide equitable treatment to all parties involved in financial restructuring or rehabilitation.

Through the updated insolvency law, chances for the survival of the company concerned are maximized by providing an ailing enterprise four different remedies including fast-track rehabilitation; court-supervised rehabilitation; pre-negotiated rehabilitation, and dissolution-liquidation.

He also suggested that private franchises be allowed to develop a rural airport infrastructure network in the country.

Angara seeks to provide speedy access between urban and rural areas with an air transport network complemented by the rehabilitation and maintenance of former or existing airports.

Development of rural airports, he clarified, would permit speedy access and reasonable costs to transport passengers and cargo, increase commercial activity, improve domestic and international tourism and provide immediate access to emergency, rescue and disaster relief services.

Citing possible agriculture and structural damages that the rainy season might bring, Angara seeks to address more logistical issues that rural airport development will allow.