Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, frontrunner in the presidential race, said he might consider raising taxes if elected if the budget gap was not cut quickly by moves to crack down on tax evasion.
Aquino, son of former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino who died last year, vowed to arrest tax dodgers and big smugglers in a campaign that he hopes would collect 150 billion pesos (US$3.3 billion) in unrealized taxes.
He said he would strengthen an existing carrot-and-stick mechanism at the country’s two main tax agencies to raise the Philippines’ perennially weak revenues.
Aquino, a first-time senator and economics graduate from the Ateneo de Manila University, said he wanted to see if measures to plug tax leaks were taking effect before imposing new taxes.
“If there is an ability to manage the deficit without raising new taxes, then we will continue that policy,” Aquino said late on Saturday before joining a campaign rally in Cebu province in central Philippines.
When asked how long it would take before he decided to consider raising new taxes if elected president in the May 10 polls, Aquino said: “I think six months would be too long, one would want it to be shorter than that.”
Aquino’s comments were meant to soothe market worries that he did not grasp the urgency of raising state revenues, with the Philippines possibly facing a record budget deficit for a second year in a row this year.
Such concerns emerged after he said in his first speech on economic policy last month that he would not impose new taxes or increase tax rates if elected.
Aquino, a 50-year-old bachelor, has maintained his position as frontrunner in various opinion polls since he declared his candidacy in September. But his main rival, billionaire lawmaker Manuel “Manny” Villar, has been closing the gap based on the latest survey in January.
Aquino said his action plan in his first 100 days as president would include forming a group to review possible changes to economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution adopted by his mother, which business groups have said were hindering a rapid growth in the country.
His stance has shifted slightly since September, when he said he was not a fan of constitutional change. But he still does not support a move to a parliamentary system.
“Have we reached the political maturity for that? I don’t think parliamentary system is the key,” Aquino said. “It is the people that we’ve put into positions of power that will make a difference.”
He also said all infrastructure projects under the 1.541 trillion pesos spending budget for this year would be re-examined, in a move aimed at getting back some of the 280 billion pesos lost to corruption last year.
“My personal objective is to demonstrate how serious we are with regards to tackling the issue of corruption,” Aquino said.
“This might take the form of arresting, I would be present when we make an arrest of smugglers, and those who conspired to do substandard infrastructure work,” he said.
Analysts say Aquino’s appeal with voters rests largely on the memory of his mother and namesake father, who was assassinated in 1983 upon his return from exile during the rule of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
He has no executive experience, other than standing by his mother’s side when she was president for six years, and his track record from nine years as a lawmaker is not seen as impressive.
Thousands of people turned up on Saturday night, with many wearing the signature yellow color of Aquino’s mother, at a campaign rally of Aquino’s political party in Cebu.
The crowd cheered and shouted “We love you Noynoy” as he entered the stage, accompanied by dancers in native “Ati-Atihan” costume swinging to a loud drumbeat.
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