EDITORIAL - Bishops right on the button

For once, Church “meddling” in State affairs has some merit. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has rightly appealed to President Aquino not to forget workers in the private sector when it comes to salary increases.

The appeal was made on the heels of a presidential announcement that government workers, who make up only a small fraction of the population, will not only be getting substantial salary increases but will be getting them earlier as well.

The bishops correctly pointed out to Aquino that the government should not only give increases to State employees but should also do something for workers in the private sector as they make up the backbone of society.

Aquino would do well to heed the appeal of the bishops, more so when one of his priority programs — the giving out of cash doleouts to the poor and the granting of subsidies to public transport drivers — is anchored on taxes a big part of which is paid by private workers.

Unlike some businessmen and professionals who cheat on their taxes, private workers have no escape since their taxes are withheld from their salaries. In other words, it is the private workers who bear much of the weight of taxation being levied by the State.

In fact, it is the government of Aquino, which boasts of pursuing the straight and narrow path, that publicly announced the shocker that, on average, doctors and lawyers pay only about P5,000 in taxes every year.

That is a dirty low down shame when compared to the taxes private workers are forced to pay, which is many times over that measly amount of P5,000. But since the Aquino government made that expose, nothing appears to have been done to compel professionals to pay the correct taxes.

So maybe the Aquino government is not inclined to go in that direction. But it should at least do something for the private workers, on whose contribution to the economy much of the resources of government must rely.

Aquino must bear it in his heart that without the private workers, many of his programs would not be able to take off the ground. He must therefore take care of the goose that lays the golden eggs for him. They could very well be the ones that can save his administration.