Marcos believes extreme poverty in PH can be eradicated in 10 years
Published Jul 4, 2019 05:15 pm
By Mario Casayuran
Senator Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee’’ R. Marcos on Thursday issued a bold statement that hunger and extreme poverty could be eradicated in the Philippine archipelago in 10 years.
Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos
(FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN) This followed her filing this week of her priority legislation, including a resolution that the Senate should conduct an inquiry into the government’s poverty programs, and three priority bills seeking to amend the country’s tax laws. Based on an agreement with the Senate leadership, each member of the 24-man Senate shall file their first 10 bills or resolutions in a “merry-go-round’’ fashion. This started last July 1. ‘’Why is it that the Philippines has a high growth rate among ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries but we have lagged behind our neighbors like Indonesia and Vietnam in terms of poverty reductions?’’ Marcos asked. Marcos lamented that the lives of the country’s poor have remained stagnant despite the government’s many poverty programs like the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) and the billions of pesos that fund them. ‘’If we can bring Mindanao out of poverty, we will have reduced the number of poor in the entire Philippines by 40 percent,’’ she pointed out. In her resolution, Marcos called for an investigation into the national poverty situation by reviewing poverty data and assessing existing poverty programs. The lady senator emphasized that the government must have a systematic way of measuring poverty programs. ‘’Our success in Ilocos Norte owes to the specific programs and measures we have taken to put a stop to inter-generational poverty,’’ Marcos, a former Ilocos Norte governor, said. To support her anti-poverty program, Marcos filed three of her priority bills that sought to expand the list of goods and services that should be exempt from value-added taxation (VAT); earmark VAT proceeds to assure food security for the poor; and correct the amount of actual funding for local government units (LGUs). She said the Duterte government may have passed the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) TRAIN law for ease of collection ‘’but we now must try to make it more fair.’’ She said she intends to make all medicines VAT-exempt, pointing out that the TRAIN law only exempted maintenance medicines for diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension. With food making up 70 percent of the poor man’s budget, Marcos also proposed to earmark VAT proceeds specifically for food vouchers and welfare programs. Other items earmarked for funding from VAT proceeds are public schools, indigent insurance, environmental conservation and agricultural modernization.
Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos(FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN) This followed her filing this week of her priority legislation, including a resolution that the Senate should conduct an inquiry into the government’s poverty programs, and three priority bills seeking to amend the country’s tax laws. Based on an agreement with the Senate leadership, each member of the 24-man Senate shall file their first 10 bills or resolutions in a “merry-go-round’’ fashion. This started last July 1. ‘’Why is it that the Philippines has a high growth rate among ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries but we have lagged behind our neighbors like Indonesia and Vietnam in terms of poverty reductions?’’ Marcos asked. Marcos lamented that the lives of the country’s poor have remained stagnant despite the government’s many poverty programs like the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) and the billions of pesos that fund them. ‘’If we can bring Mindanao out of poverty, we will have reduced the number of poor in the entire Philippines by 40 percent,’’ she pointed out. In her resolution, Marcos called for an investigation into the national poverty situation by reviewing poverty data and assessing existing poverty programs. The lady senator emphasized that the government must have a systematic way of measuring poverty programs. ‘’Our success in Ilocos Norte owes to the specific programs and measures we have taken to put a stop to inter-generational poverty,’’ Marcos, a former Ilocos Norte governor, said. To support her anti-poverty program, Marcos filed three of her priority bills that sought to expand the list of goods and services that should be exempt from value-added taxation (VAT); earmark VAT proceeds to assure food security for the poor; and correct the amount of actual funding for local government units (LGUs). She said the Duterte government may have passed the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) TRAIN law for ease of collection ‘’but we now must try to make it more fair.’’ She said she intends to make all medicines VAT-exempt, pointing out that the TRAIN law only exempted maintenance medicines for diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension. With food making up 70 percent of the poor man’s budget, Marcos also proposed to earmark VAT proceeds specifically for food vouchers and welfare programs. Other items earmarked for funding from VAT proceeds are public schools, indigent insurance, environmental conservation and agricultural modernization.