Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda (Facebook)





Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda attempted to predict on Sunday, July 23 what President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will say in the latter's State of the Nation Address (SONA) based on what the solon believes should be the country’s aspiration. Noting that the country's recovery from the pandemic is "almost complete", Salceda said he expects Marcos to give less focus on Covid-19 and instead talk more about “moving forward with the task of national greatness". “The task now at hand is how to work on the basic ingredients of national greatness – a country that is not merely trying to survive, but is ambitious," said the House Committee on Ways and Means chairman. “For me, the key components would be a modern agricultural sector, energy independence, a thriving manufacturing and technology sector, and a vibrant and diverse creatives and services sector. I expect President Marcos to discuss these things in tomorrow’s SONA," Salceda said. “That means making agriculture grow by at least 5 percent every year to catch up with our growing food needs and potentially grow exports, lower power cost to competitive levels at P7 per kilowatt hour, create more manufacturing and export jobs, invest in research and development, and lay out a national plan for skills development,” he explained. Marcos will deliver his second SONA before a joint session of Congress Monday, July 24. "Of course national ambition requires resources. And growth has tended to accrue towards the rich," the Bicolano acknowledged. "So, I am hoping he announces a move towards fiscal consolidation, with a focus on taxing the wealthy.” Among the taxes Salceda believes will fall on the wealthy include “a tax on more luxury goods, updating road user tax rates, imposing excise taxes on pick-up trucks, rationalizing land valuation, and the imposition of VAT on foreign digital services". “These types of taxes should come first before we impose taxes on food. Especially with a global cost of living crisis at hand, I am hesitant to advance taxes on food through my committee,” Salceda added. “And I think it’s time to enact these taxes on the wealthy, now that the economy is back on track. You want to impose taxes on the rich during good times so that you have reserves for bad times. We never know,” he further said. “Now is the best time for fiscal consolidation. PBBM (Marcos) will need it to fund a more ambitious agenda over the next five years," Salceda said.