Philippine President Gloria Arroyo yesterday pledged to cut the country's unwieldy bureaucracy and devote her new term to raising millions out of poverty, but gave few policy details.
In her first state of the nation speech since winning elections in May, Arroyo linked her anti-poverty fight with her decision to pull Manila's troops out of Iraq last week to save the life of a Filipino hostage at the cost of strained ties with Washington.
"I have shown that government does care even for a single Filipino life," Arroyo told a joint session of Congress. "Now we must show that we care for the rest of the Filipino people, even the weakest among us."
PHOTO: AFP
Analysts were looking to the speech for evidence she could cut a public-debt burden worth more than the economy, while also creating enough jobs and investment to staunch the flow of Filipinos leaving the country to seek work abroad.
Arroyo reiterated plans to introduce new tax steps to raise an extra 80 billion pesos (US$1.4 billion) a year while saving an extra 100 billion pesos a year, but gave no further details on tax.
Her energy secretary yesterday said that she had signed an order to raise tariffs on oil product imports to 5 percent from 3 percent to net an extra 4.4 billion pesos (US$78.6 million).
Arroyo asked Congress to approve a bill on the privatization of debt-laden state power firm NAPOCOR, promising that it would not be a "firesale," and to pass a bill making the country's anti-corruption ombudsman as strong as Hong Kong's.
She also promised to create a more efficient bureaucracy by cutting staffing and giving the private sector a greater role.
"We will simplify procedures to eliminate fixers," she said. "We will downsize the government, motivate excess employees to become entrepreneurs and increase the pay of a lean and mean bureaucracy."
With her first three years over-shadowed by doubts about her legitimacy, Arroyo pledged to use her mandate for a fresh six-year term and legislative majorities to wipe out the US$3.6 billion annual budget deficit, create 6 million jobs and put computers in all schools.
But it is still unclear whether politicians are ready to tackle the country's problems with renewed urgency and push aside the bickering and bad blood that has lingered since anti-graft protests turfed out former president Joseph Estrada and installed Arroyo in 2001.
The initial reaction to Arroyo's address by one senator suggested she had failed to win over doubters.
"It reads like a mediocre term paper," administration senator Joker Arroyo said in a statement. "Long in rhetoric, short in substance. The president's advisers have failed her."
Around 5,000 police were on alert as protesters gathered near the Congress building in central Manila.
Raising one of Asia's smallest revenue bases by cracking down on tax cheats and corrupt bureaucrats is a key test for the Philippines.
Although Arroyo supporters won a majority in the Congress and Senate, that does not guarantee an end to opposition to reforms by vested interests that has frustrated investors in the past.
Moves to raise "sin" taxes on tobacco and alcohol have been stymied for years by entrenched opposition, even though most analysts say that it would make economic sense.
Early proposals to abolish the value-added tax in favor of a new tax on gross income have been criticized as counter to a trend toward VAT-based tax systems in other countries.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
RSS