Post by tex on Jul 28, 2008 10:05:42 GMT -5
Philippine Star EDITORIAL –
The President’s annual report
Monday, July 28, 2008
Malacañang has given a good idea of what President Arroyo’s report on the state of the nation will contain. Last year’s 31-year record-high economic growth would have been the highlight of her achievements, but this has been dampened by the long lines this year for cheap rice as the nation grapples with a global surge in food and fuel prices. So the President’s eighth State of the Nation Address today is expected to focus on what her administration has been doing – and intends to do – to cushion the impact of the food and fuel crunch. The principal tack can be summed up in one word: subsidies.
And more subsidies are coming, Malacañang vows. This isn’t altogether bad, as long as the subsidies go to the poorest of the poor. The dole-outs also help the administration justify its refusal to scrap the 12 percent value-added tax on oil imports despite the global oil crisis. But the subsidy system can be improved. Something always gets lost in translating the best intentions into action in this country.
One agency had to trim down a list of subsidy beneficiaries from about 700,000 to just over 200,000 after determining that the list had been padded by those who drew it up. There are numerous stories of affluent homeowners who became recipients of the power subsidy because their unoccupied extra houses naturally consumed less than P100 worth of electricity a month. The social welfare secretary has a better scheme: subsidies in exchange for keeping children in school for a certain period.
More than outright dole-outs, the nation wants to hear from the Chief Executive what her government plans to do so Filipinos need not become mendicants. More than touting the ever-growing remittances from overseas Filipino workers, the President should address the reasons why Filipinos are leaving their own land to find decent employment overseas.
There aren’t enough jobs as investors prefer to put their money in other countries in Southeast Asia. Those businessmen have cited the investment disincentives in the Philippines on so many occasions in the past years, yet little has been done about the problems. One-time dole-outs ease suffering from poverty. Jobs and proper education liberate people from impoverishment, eradicating the need to depend on dole-outs. The nation awaits a report from the President on how she intends to eliminate the need for multibillion-peso subsidies.
The President’s annual report
Monday, July 28, 2008
Malacañang has given a good idea of what President Arroyo’s report on the state of the nation will contain. Last year’s 31-year record-high economic growth would have been the highlight of her achievements, but this has been dampened by the long lines this year for cheap rice as the nation grapples with a global surge in food and fuel prices. So the President’s eighth State of the Nation Address today is expected to focus on what her administration has been doing – and intends to do – to cushion the impact of the food and fuel crunch. The principal tack can be summed up in one word: subsidies.
And more subsidies are coming, Malacañang vows. This isn’t altogether bad, as long as the subsidies go to the poorest of the poor. The dole-outs also help the administration justify its refusal to scrap the 12 percent value-added tax on oil imports despite the global oil crisis. But the subsidy system can be improved. Something always gets lost in translating the best intentions into action in this country.
One agency had to trim down a list of subsidy beneficiaries from about 700,000 to just over 200,000 after determining that the list had been padded by those who drew it up. There are numerous stories of affluent homeowners who became recipients of the power subsidy because their unoccupied extra houses naturally consumed less than P100 worth of electricity a month. The social welfare secretary has a better scheme: subsidies in exchange for keeping children in school for a certain period.
More than outright dole-outs, the nation wants to hear from the Chief Executive what her government plans to do so Filipinos need not become mendicants. More than touting the ever-growing remittances from overseas Filipino workers, the President should address the reasons why Filipinos are leaving their own land to find decent employment overseas.
There aren’t enough jobs as investors prefer to put their money in other countries in Southeast Asia. Those businessmen have cited the investment disincentives in the Philippines on so many occasions in the past years, yet little has been done about the problems. One-time dole-outs ease suffering from poverty. Jobs and proper education liberate people from impoverishment, eradicating the need to depend on dole-outs. The nation awaits a report from the President on how she intends to eliminate the need for multibillion-peso subsidies.