SONA Reactions..Part 2

Malolos bishop: Trust President Arroyo on eVAT

07/31/2008 | 10:14 AM

MANILA, Philippines — A Roman Catholic bishop on Thursday said the government was correct in imposing the expanded value-added tax (eVAT) and that Filipinos should trust President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo because "what she is doing is for the good of the nation."

Malolos Bishop Jose Oliveros argued that if properly collected and accounted for, the VAT can do much good.

He said the VAT may hurt the pockets of many people but it is still their clear obligation to the government. He said it is the prerogative of the government to impose the VAT that would be used to fund programs for the people.

"We are not the only country with VAT. Other countries such as the United States have their own, which is even higher than ours," Oliveros said in an interview over Church-run Radyo Veritas, excerpts of which were posted on Thursday on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.

Oliveros earlier reminded President Arroyo that it is a moral obligation to be transparent about the VAT the government collects.

"Nandoon 'yung transparency, yung mahalagang tungkulin na gamitin ang mga buwis na nakuha para sa kabutihan ng sambayanan," (It is important that government shows transparency in using taxes, to make sure taxes benefit the people)," he said.

He also echoed President Arroyo's line that her "Katas ng VAT" program is for the poorest of the poor who would benefit from it.

"Because of VAT, the government is able to provide subsidy to the needy. Subsidy means poorest of the poor," said Oliveros, whose stand differed from those of other bishops.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/110545/Malolos-bishop-Trust-President-Arroyo-on-eVAT

Lacson urges Arroyo to fire SONA speech writer

07/31/2008 | 05:15 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson advised President Arroyo to fire the speech writer of her State of the Nation Address (SONA)who “tricked" her on the 50¢ cut on text messaging rates.

Lacson said Mrs. Arroyo was misled into believing the 50¢ slash was due to her efforts to lower short messaging service (SMS) rates, when it was a promotion of telecommunications firms.

"Dapat ang gawin ni Mrs. Arroyo, i-fire niya ang sino ang nag-include or nag-insert ng portion na yan sa kanyang SONA. Agad-agad. (What Mrs. Arroyo should do is fire that speech writer who inserted that part about the text rate slash in her SONA. And she should do it soonest),"
he said.

Arroyo's claim on the rate cut drew cheers at the SONA, but it drew flak after subscribers learned it was only a promotion offer, and that they needed to register to avail of it.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/110504/Lacson-urges-Arroyo-to-fire-SONA-speech-writer

Arroyo allies turn tables on Lopezes over Marcos comparison

07/30/2008 | 04:16 PM

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s allies at the House of Representatives on Wednesday turned the tables on the Lopezes for comparing the present administration to that of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

At least three lawmakers were one in saying that unlike during Marcos’ rule, the Lopezes who run the Manila Electric Co. are now totally free to air their sentiments.

On Tuesday, Oscar M. Lopez, the patriarch of the Lopez family, said that with the Arroyo administration’s attempt to seize control of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), it is as though the Marcos’ dictatorship never ended.

“It is happening again today, as officials of both the executive and legislative branches of government are ganging up on the Lopez management in Meralco when their real gripe is with ABS-CBN," said in a speech during the forum on “Leadership in Times of Crisis" in Makati City.

The state pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), which has a 22-percent stake in Meralco, wants to take over the power firm, claiming that the Lopez family had been mismanaging it and overpricing energy rates to the detriment of consumers.

Lopez claimed that the government’s attempt to seize control of the Meralco was actually targeted at ABS-CBN, the Lopez family’s flagship, which had been critical of the administration.

But Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, chairman of the House appropriations committee, said the comparison was “intellectually dishonest" because “we have right now the rule of law, democratic space and freedom of the press."

Elpidio Barzaga of Cavite said the allegation is baseless since under the free-spirited press policy of the Arroyo government, no media entity – the Lopezes’ ABS-CBN included – was ever muzzled or censored, even if the broadcast news it was airing was anti-government.

“ABS-CBN can run any program it wants, air any opinion it holds, and broadcast any news it deems fit for public consumption – all free from censorship. I think that is the standard by which we should gauge if press freedom has been denied to this entity," he said.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/110342/Arroyo-allies-turn-tables-on-Lopezes-over-Marcos-comparison

SONA Reactions..

Presidential address gets mixed reactions from businessmen

07/28/2008 | 07:26 PM

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address reaped mixed reactions from local business groups.

After giving a thumb’s up on President Arroyo’s strong stance on keeping the expanded value-added tax (VAT) in place, business leaders said she failed to address other important facets of the economy.

“There were parts we agreed with. But on the whole, we did not see a very coherent strategy," said Makati Business Club Executive Director Alberto Lim.

Lim said the MBC agrees with President Arroyo’s aim to help the poor, as well as the thrusts for self-sufficiency and balanced interests in sectors like mining.

However, he said that the Chief Executive could have been more specific and substantial particularly in programs on fiscal reform, education, and infrastructure.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/109886/Presidential-address-gets-mixed-reactions-from-businessmen

Group: Arroyo's SONA mum on OFWs' welfare

07/28/2008 | 07:03 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Militant overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) based in Hong Kong questioned President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday for keeping mum on measures to promote their welfare in her State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Hong Kong (Bayan-HK) said poverty has become so rampant that the economic and political crises are even felt abroad.

"(Government) keeps on exacting from the earning of OFWs through various government fees. It even takes money from what we send to our families through the documentary stamp fee in every remittance," said Norman Uy Carnay, Bayan-HK country information officer, said in a statement on the Kilusan website.

Carnay said that Filipino migrants are enraged with the refusal of the Arroyo government to heed the people's demands to remove the value-added tax on oil and the scrapping of oil deregulation.

Also, he said government remains silent on issues affecting OFWs in the host country.

In her 57-minute speech, Arroyo praised the efforts of OFWs who send money back home to ease the economic woes not only of their families in particular but also of the country in general.

"I care for our OFWs for their skills, integrity, and untiring labor, who send home their pay as the only way to touch loved ones so far away," said Mrs Arroyo in her eighth SONA on Monday.

"Nagpupugay ako ngayon sa kanilang mga pangkaraniwang Filipino (I laud them, ordinary Filipinos)," she added.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/109882/Group-Arroyos-SONA-mum-on-OFWs-welfare

Critics assail President Arroyo's 'VAT-full' SONA

07/28/2008 | 06:30 PM

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's detractors on Monday took turns in criticizing the 57-minute State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the chief executive, which was filled with explanations on how the controversial expanded value added tax (e-VAT) helped the nation cope with the global economic crisis.

An umbrella organization of activist lawyers, the Alternative Law Groups (ALG), said that Mrs Arroyo's SONA "was a very long defensive statement for e-VAT and a poor attempt at presenting success stories in various parts of the country."

In a text message sent to GMANews.TV, lawyer Marlon J. Manuel, ALG coordinator, said that the SONA contained a "hodge-podge of palliative reliefs" and thus countered her statement that the country needed long-term reforms to be able to rise from the rut amid the crisis on food and fuel.

Leftist umbrella organization Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) also assailed Mrs Arroyo's SONA saying that it was "spoken by someone who seemed to be from another planet and detached from reality."

Renato Reyes Jr, Bayan secretary general, said that it was "ridiculous" that VAT was seen by the President as the solution to the worsening poverty among majority of Filipinos, when "it is clearly anti-people."

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/109879/Critics-assail-President-Arroyos-VAT-full-SONA

ARROYO'S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS (Transcript)

07/28/2008 | 11:26 PM

State of the Nation Address of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
2nd Regular Session of the 14th Congress
Republic of the Philippines
28 July 2008

Thank you, Speaker Nograles. Senate President Villar. Senators and Representatives. Vice President de Castro, President Ramos, Chief Justice Puno, members of the diplomatic corps, ladies and gentlemen:

I address you today at a crucial moment in world history.

Just a few months ago, we ended 2007 with the strongest economic growth in a generation. Inflation was low, the peso strong and a million new jobs were created. We were all looking to a better, brighter future.

Because tough choices were made, kumikilos na ang bayan sa wakas. Malapit na sana tayo sa pagbalanse ng budget. We were retiring debts in great amounts, reducing the drag on our country’s development, habang namumuhunan sa taong bayan.

Biglang-bigla, nabaligtad ang ekonomiya ng mundo. Ang pagtalon ng presyo ng langis at pagkain ay nagbunsod ng pandaigdigan krisis, the worst since the Great Depression and the end of World War II. Some blame speculators moving billions of dollars from subprime mortgages to commodities like fuel and food. Others point of the very real surge in demand as millions of Chinese and Indians move up to the middle class.

Whatever the reasons, we are on a roller coaster ride of oil price hikes, high food prices and looming economic recession in the US and other markets. Uncertainty has moved like a terrible tsunami around the globe, wiping away gains, erasing progress.

This is a complex time that defies simple and easy solutions. For starters, it is hard to identify villains, unlike in the 1997 financial crisis. Everyone seems to be a victim, rich countries and poor, though certainly some can take more punishment than others.

To address these global challenges, we must go on building and buttressing bridges to allies around the world: to bring in the rice to feed our people, investments to create jobs; and to keep the peace and maintain stability in our country and the rest of the world. Yet even as we reach out to those who need, and who may need us, we strive for greater self-reliance.

Because tough choices were made, the global crisis did not catch us helpless and unprepared. Through foresight, grit and political will, we built a shield around our country that has slowed down and somewhat softened the worst effects of the global crisis. We have the money to care for our people and pay for food when there are shortages; for fuel despite price spikes.

Neither we nor anyone else in the world expected this day to come so soon but we prepared for it. For the guts not to flinch in the face of tough choices, I thank God. For the wisdom to recognize how needed you are, I thank, you Congress. For footing the bill, I thank the taxpayers.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/109854/ARROYOS-STATE-OF-THE-NATION-ADDRESS-(Transcript)