Palace focused on ensuring growth sans higher taxes

MANILA, Philippines - The government remains focused on ensuring judicious use of government resources so that inclusive growth can be achieved without having to raise taxes other than those on sin products, Malacañang said yesterday.

Presidential Communications Operations Office  Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said President Aquino was only keeping his promise that no new taxes would be slapped on the general public without first ensuring that corruption and leaks in the use of taxpayers’ money had been addressed.

“The government remains focused and committed to attaining the goal of inclusive growth by creating more employment and extending social protection to the most needy,” he said.

Coloma said more efficient use of resources had allowed the government to channel more funds to social services and other pro-poor programs.

He said budget allocations for the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Health and Education from 2010 to 2014 have gone up considerably even if no new taxes had been imposed on the public.

This proves the capacity of the government to provide more services without imposing new taxes, Coloma said.

“We acknowledge that there are those who differ with us in the way they view the economy. As the President said in his New Year’s message, ‘Our minds remain open and we are always ready to listen to those with meaningful ideas and proposals that can help to expand and make permanent our reforms’,” Coloma added when asked about criticisms from the Communist Party of the Philippines and some economists that only a few had benefited from the country’s much vaunted economic growth.

He said there could be different premises or frameworks being used in analyzing economic developments, but he stressed the National Economic and Development Authority would come up with a clearer picture based on the Philippine Development Plan.

He said structural reforms and adjustments were being made to ensure that results would be delivered by the end of Aquino’s term in 2016.

Coloma added that despite initial setbacks, the government’s Public Private Partnership program had picked up and that seven projects had been successfully awarded to investors through bidding.

Coloma said these major infrastructure projects would hopefully encourage more investors to come to the Philippines.

He said a “learning period” was part of the development process and that investors would normally adjust before participating in the country’s economic activities.

“But the interaction between the government and the investors is dynamic,” he said.

Coloma also said the Palace would consider as another learning opportunity the Philippines’ drop in ranking in the Forbes’ Best Countries for Business for 2013.

Rethink no new tax policy

An administration ally at the House of Representatives, however, advised the government to rethink its “no new taxes” policy or at least restructure its tax system in certain industries in order to sustain government expenditures as well as the country’s growth.

Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo, chairman of the House ways and means committee, issued the statement after Malacañang’s announcement ruling out new taxes.

“This issue is really the call of the Executive branch but as far as we (Congress) are concerned, we think our fiscal position is precarious and there remain risks and uncertainties in the global economy, uncertainties in investments supposed to be coming into the country, and even the environment,” Quimbo said.