Neglected

With the electoral frenzy now taking hold, will Congress be able to do any work on urgent economic legislation sitting in the committees of both houses?

Our impression is that, at the Senate, all the talk has turned around corpses: those of Bubby Dacer, Emmanuel Corbito and Edgar Bentain. They were dragged away, probably tortured and definitely killed.

For a decade now, we have wondered who were responsible for these heinous murders. There are suspects but little evidence. There are obvious motives but few testimonies. It is doubtful if anyone will ever confess to these crimes.

Skeletons, in a manner of speaking, have been dragged out of the closets. People who, at the time these murders were committed, should have known who were responsible have now begun accusing each other in a wild orgy of mudslinging and innuendo.

In the scarce details that have been revealed so far, not much has been contributed to the cause of successful prosecution and the triumph of justice. With little substance but high entertainment value, this episode of mutually assured destruction consumes our attention and distracts our legislators from their work.

Meanwhile, the news from the House of Representatives is still the difficulty in getting a quorum to do business. It is a wonder that on a presidential trip abroad where their presence is absolutely inconsequential, our congressmen rush to join the entourage. But in committee hearings and plenary sessions where their presence is absolutely required, they could not be found.

There must be a way to chain congressmen to their desks — or at least penalize them for chronic absences.

While our legislators appear consumed by ten thousand concerns other than proper legislation, some pretty urgent bills are rotting on the table. These are bills indispensable to enhancing our economic prospects and therefore have direct bearing on the well-being of our people.

Never mind the proposed “sin taxes’ that should help shore up our fiscal position amidst all the stimulus spending that need to be done. No one realistically hopes that, on the eve of elections, our politicians would even bother with tax matters.

There are other significant pieces of economic legislation awaiting congressional action. All of them are crucial to improving our economic performance now that recovery is in sight.

Recently, the foreign chambers of commerce and a number of our own business organizations found it necessary to write the Senate President and the Speaker of the House almost pleading that action be taken on the pending economic bills.

On the part of the House of Representatives, the chambers of commerce reminded Speaker Prospero Nograles about four significant bills. These are: the Amendments to the BSP Charter; the Anti-Smuggling Bill; the Land Use Bill; and, the OECD Tax Compliance Amendments.

On the part of the Senate, the list is a bit longer. The chambers of commerce reminded Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile about: SB 3396 Amendments to the Customs Brokers Act, which has gone through second reading; SB 2546 Department of Information and Communications Bill, which has likewise gone through second reading; SB 3308 the Freedom of Access to Information Bill; the Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives Bill; the bill covering the Simplified Net Income Tax Scheme (NITS); the Anti-Smuggling Bill; Amendments to the BSP Charter bill; the Land Use bill; the residential free patent bill; and the OECD Tax Compliance Amendments.

Investors who will be directly affected — positively or negatively — by these pieces of legislation are sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for quicker action on these issues because they will affect investment decisions. The longer it takes for these bills to be acted upon, the greater the opportunity costs for our economy.

Eventually, that will mean greater opportunity costs for our people — especially those waiting for jobs to open, production to expand and opportunities to multiply.

The amendments to the BSP charter, for instance, will allow our central bank to align with modern regulatory practices. That is crucial in this season when financial stability is of primal importance, considering what we all went through the past year.

The establishment of a Department of Information and Communications will help bring our governance to the 21st century. It will allow us a truly competent bureaucracy focused on the fastest changing element of our technological horizon. Better plans and policies governing information and communications will enhance our competitiveness in business process outsourcing, a sunrise area of our economy. It will likewise improve our capacity for e-governance.

The simplified net income scheme will address the biggest problem in our tax collection: the intractability of income taxation and the high level of tax avoidance. Simplifying the procedures here will benefit the millions of taxpayers who worry about computing their tax obligations properly. It will reduce leakages in the revenue system.

I think the point being made here is clear. By reducing the time and energy devoted to actual legislative work, we are wasting opportunities for our people.

This might sound pretty out-of-the-box: perhaps the Senate might consider holding weekend sessions for those who want to deliver self-serving privilege speeches, do grandstanding or conduct inquiries in aid of reelection.

On the part of the House, maybe 40 lashes or an hour of caning might be prescribed for absentee legislators. That is merciful punishment considering the immense opportunity costs imposed on our people by legislative indolence.