MANILA, Philippines?President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Thursday called on various religious officials to help her administration identify antipoverty programs to be funded by the windfall from the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT), mostly from petroleum products.
?We invite the religious organizations to help us not only to monitor where revenues from the VAT are being allocated, but also to advise us on where to put them,? the President said in an interview over dzBB radio.
Ms Arroyo made the call as she disclosed that revenue-generating agencies had exceeded by as much as P8 billion their target VAT collections over the past two quarters.
Economic managers placed at P18.6 billion the windfall from the VAT because of soaring fuel prices, and at P73 billion the total VAT collections for the year.
Ms Arroyo reached out to the religious sector following a statement by members of the Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on July 9 that the poor?s bitterness was rising because of her dependence on subsidies instead of policy reforms to break the cycle of poverty in the country.
Bishop Roderick Pabillo said that the huge VAT collections were a fertile source of corruption.
The CBCP also called on Malacańang to review the law on VAT and the oil regulation law, which it said were adding to the burdens of the poor already suffering from rocketing prices of goods and services. The VAT allows government to collect bigger revenues as the prices of goods and services shoot up.
Instead of giving doles to the poor, the CBCP said the government should focus on providing long-lasting solutions.
Other religious groups
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the President?s decision to seek the advice of leaders of the Catholic Church, Iglesia ni Kristo and El Shaddai, among other religious groups, was part of her move to be transparent in disbursing taxpayers? money.
?To enhance transparency, accountability and effectiveness of these programs, Finance Secretary Gary Teves recommended to extend invitation to work with the CBCP and religious groups ... in identifying, implementing and monitoring targeted programs for the poor and vulnerable sectors to be funded by incremental VAT revenues,? Dureza said.
The social welfare department will also consult with the CBCP on establishing a database on poor households targeted by the subsidy program, he said.
Stop-gap measure
While expressing gratitude to the government for putting aside another P4 billion in VAT revenues for the poor, the CBCP president, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, Thursday said the fund would not transform the lives of the poor for the better.
Lagdameo said he was skeptical that the financial package, in the form of subsidies, would last.
?This is not a long-term solution but a stop-gap measure to alleviate immediately the needs of the poor,? he said.
Dependent and lazy
Lagdameo warned the government against giving subsidies, saying ?it makes the poor dependent and lazy.?
He said the people should be vigilant to ensure that the funds were directed to the needy.
?We need to make sure that there is accounting and transparency in the distribution of subsidies. I hope that the funds for subsidies go directly to those who need it and not to the pockets of the few,? the CBCP head said.
Dureza said the directive to enlist the help of the religious was issued by the President during a joint meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council and the Cabinet in Masbate on Tuesday.
Another P4 billion
At the Cabinet meeting, the President announced the release of another P4 billion in the form of subsidies to the poor to help them cope with soaring food and fuel prices.
Ms Arroyo said she had allocated P1 billion for power subsidy for lifeline users and P1 billion to fund a microfinance program for wives of public transport drivers, including tricycle drivers and conductors.
She also released P500 million for the upgrading of government tertiary hospitals into primary hospitals, another P500 million in cash subsidy for the elderly, and P1 billion for relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas ravaged by Typhoon ?Frank? (international codename: Fengshen).
The money will come from VAT.
The President earlier set aside P4 billion from the initial revenues from the VAT on oil to help the poor. The amount is broken down into P2 billion in subsidy for small electricity users, P1 billion in scholarships and loans for poor students, and another P1 billion in loans to help bus, taxi and jeepney owners to convert their engines into units that run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas CNG. LPG and CNG are cheaper and cleaner than diesel and gasoline.
Suspect
Pangasinan Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz said the release of the P4-billion fund was suspect because the President was set to issue her annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) next week.
Cruz said it appeared that Ms Arroyo released the fund ahead of the SONA to improve her popularity among the poor.
?She should not gloat in her SONA that the government earned so much from the VAT that it is giving back to the poor through doles,? he said.
