Marcos says gov’t eyeing fiscal measures to mitigate El Niño impact

By: Zacarian Sarao - 12 months ago

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said fiscal measures, such as adjusting tariff levels, may be implemented to mitigate the effects of El Niño.

“I think we will also have some other strategies concerning the fiscal measures that we can undertake para mabawasan naman ang load sa ating mga kababayan at kahit na kung anong mangyari (to alleviate the burden on our fellow citizens, whatever the circumstances may be),” Marcos in a chance interview in Nueva Ecija.

“We are doing an analysis now of world prices of food to see what would be the appropriate tariff level, what will be the appropriate fiscal measures that we can undertake, at what level do we do this, how much, what percentage, all of these. Pinag-aaralan natin ngayon ‘yan and that will also become part of the effort,” he said.

(We are currently studying that, and it will also become a part of our ongoing efforts.)

Apart from the fiscal measures, Marcos said he also ordered his recently announced Task Force El Niño to put together data from the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy to create a database for all concerned agencies to have access to for their response against the effects of the dry spell.

However, the President said the structure of the task force is still being finalized and may be established next week.

Furthermore, Marcos also bared that a massive information campaign is set to be conducted to inform the public of the effects of El Niño, along with other necessary information.

“So, by early next year, we will begin to disseminate this information and let people know what it is that we are doing, what the forecast is going to be, how everyone can help, and what will be our strategies so that we can alleviate the effects of the drought,” he said.