PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. still has more to report about the state of the nation but will just leave it to his Cabinet secretaries to explain what has been accomplished in the past year and what more needs to be done in the remainder of his term to fully realize the goals he has set up to transition the country into a “Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines).”
“Kulang pa… There was so much to go through,” the President said when asked if was satisfied with his state of the nation address (SONA).
In a 194-page President’s Report to the People, or the SONA technical report, the President further discussed the accomplishments of his administration, including the country’s stronger economy, sustaining of critical infrastructure programs in the transport sector, digital industry, tourism, agriculture and health, among others.
Marcos also endorsed 20 more bills that he did not mention in his SONA, such as the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Bill aimed at developing an equitable, and efficient real property valuation system, and the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Tax Act which simplifies and harmonizes the taxation of passive income, financial services, and transactions necessary to attract capital and investments.
A news release by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the President wanted to report more items in his second SONA, during which he had talked about achievements in the economy, health system, education and infrastructure, among others.
Marcos also talked about the government’s campaign against agricultural smuggling and hoarding, against illegal drugs, and corruption as well as the promotion of drug rehabilitation, improvement of delivery of education, and health services, and grant of amnesty to former rebels.
A post-SONA assessment is being conducted by Cabinet sectors. It started with a briefing of the economic team which talked about infrastructure development and connectivity, and the food security cluster that included the Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform and Department of Trade, among others.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, in an interview with CNN Philippines, expressed confidence that the P20 per kilo of rice that was promised by Marcos during the campaign is still possible provided that government programs are sustained, especially those aimed at increasing rice production.
PRIORITY MEASURES
The President, in his SONA, also called for the passage of 16 priority legislation to uplift the lives of the Filipino people. These include the excise tax on single use plastics; value-added tax on digital services; rationalization of mining fiscal regime; motor vehicle users’ charge or road users’ tax; military and uniformed personnel pension; anti-financial account scamming law; Tatak Pinoy or Proud Filipino law; Blue Economy law; ease of paying taxes; local government unit income classification act; and the Philippine Immigration Act.
He also called for amendments to Fisheries Code, the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, the Cooperative Code, Government Procurement Law, the Auditing Code.
In the President’s Report to the People, Marcos also called for the passage of the Value-Added Tax Refund for Tourists to boost tourists arrivals and purchases from accredited retailers in the Philippines; the Ease of Paying Taxes Bill to provide a simple and convenient tax payment system through electronic means; and the Internet Transactions Act to strengthen the protection to consumers and merchants and address increasing complaints and fraud reports in e-commerce transactions;
Amendments of the Build Operate Transfer Law to address challenges in the country’s infrastructure investment system and create a more conducive environment for private sector participation; establishment of Regional Specialty Hospitals to bring quality healthcare closer to Filipinos; and amendments to the Universal Healthcare Act to review annual premium rates of PhilHealth and cushion the impact of the recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President also endorsed the bills seeking to create a Philippine Center for Disease, and the Virology Institute of the Philippines; bill creating a Health Emergency Auxiliary Reinforcement Team to ensure a quick mobilization of allied medical professionals during health emergencies; the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) that seeks to provide fair compensation and incentives to barangay health workers;
Reinstitution of the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and National Service Training Program, the National Government Rightsizing Program, E-Governance Act, Valuation Reform Bill (Tax Package 3), waste-to-energy law; National Land Use Act, Department of Water Resources Act, and Philippine Salt Industry Development Act.
Bersamin, asked about a legislated wage hike as some labor groups want, said it is not part of the priority measures endorsed by the President or mentioned during the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council meeting.
He said it is best left to Congress, adding that the President prefers not to meddle or comment prematurely about issues that may affect the economy. He said he prefers to wait for the concerned agencies or bodies to act and decide on the issue first.
10 BILLS
Speaker Martin Romualdez said the House of Representatives will work to pass before the end of the year all 10 remaining bills that President Marcos Jr. asked Congress to approve in his second SONA last Monday.
The House has approved on third and final reading seven of 17 priority measures, excluding the proposed 2024 national budget which the Executive Department is expected to submit to the House next month.
Romualdez expressed confidence that the chamber would wrap up the final approval of the remaining 10 SONA priority measures before the yearend – four before the congressional recess in October and the other six in December.
“I am extremely confident that the House of Representatives would again rise up to the occasion and accept the challenge from our President: to pass the 17 priority measures needed to sustain our economic recovery and improve the living condition of our people,” the Speaker said.
The Speaker however said the important bill that the House needs to deliberate on and approve at the soonest is the proposed 2024 General Appropriations Bill based on the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
The seven SONA priority measures that have been approved by the House on final reading are: House Bill No. 4102 or Single-Use Plastic Bags Tax Act; House Bill No. 4122 or An Act Imposing Value-Added Tax on Digital Transactions; House Bill No. 6716 or An Act Mandating the Establishment of Fisherfolk Resettlement Areas by the Department of Agriculture, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Local Government Units; House Bill No. 7393 or Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act; House Bill No. 7006 or Automatic Income Classification Act for Local Government Units; House Bill No. 8203 or Bureau of Immigration Modernization Act; House Bill No. 4125 or Ease of Paying Taxes Act.
The four SONA priority measures for approval by October are: Anti-Agricultural Smuggling; Amendments to the Cooperative Code; Tatak Pinoy; Blue Economy
The six remaining priority measures for approval by December are: Motor Vehicle User’s Charge; Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Pension; Revised Procurement Law; New Government Auditing Code; Rationalization of Mining Fiscal Regime; National Water Act.
The OFW group Migrante International said it does not agree with Marcos’ SONA statement he would hope that overseas employment will soon be “driven by choice, not by necessity.”
“His statements regarding making overseas employment optional and not forced are contradictory and insincere,” said Migrante adding the scenario is improbable considering the actions of the government, led by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), and its reliance to OFW remittances.
“It is actively in talks with different countries and are signing agreements for the deployment of more Filipino workers,” said the OFW group.
“Because of the billions of remittances from Filipino migrants, it remains business as usual for OFW deployment,” it added.
The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) assailed the absence of any mention of wage adjustments in the second SONA.
“FFW reiterates the urgency of its advocacy for a P150 daily wage hike across the nation by legislative fiat,” said FFW president Sonny Matula.
“There is some disappointment… Our agenda was not spotlighted in the President’s SONA speech,” he added. — With Wendell Vigilia and Gerard Naval
