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MALACAÑANG on Thursday defended the appointment of
former senator Ralph Recto as socioeconomic planning
secretary, saying that his landmark expanded value-added
tax (E-VAT) law has helped, and not burdened, the poor,
contrary to the claims of militant groups.
Presidential Management Staff chief Cerge Remonde said
the VAT is a progressive tax that places the burden on
heavy consumers, and has generated extra revenues to
fund government subsidies to the poor at a time of high
food and oil prices.
“Recto
is ideal for the position because of his extensive
experience in both politics and economics. VAT is not a
burden to the poor. On the contrary, it is from VAT that
the government is able to subsidize the poor,” said
Remonde.
But
militant legislators are adamant that unless he reverses
and opposes the Arroyo administration’s “so-called
economic development programs,” Recto would just place
more economic burdens on the country.
“We
challenge the new Neda chief to revoke all antipeople
economic programs by the Arroyo administration including
the burdensome VAT, his pet policy, that is now bleeding
the Filipino people dry,” said party-list Rep. Rafael
Mariano of Anakpawis.
This was
denied by Speaker Prospero Nograles, who said Recto “bit
the bullet when he authored the VAT and paid the
political price for pushing for it.”
He added
Recto lost in the elections but “this law saved our
country from economic perdition and buoyed up the
economy when we needed it most. Senator Ralph was
correct and he bit the bullet like all of us who
supported his VAT proposal.”
Mariano
called attention to the President’s recent trip to the
United States where she witnessed—as she did the
controversial and aborted ZTE broadband
deal—multimillion-dollar investment deals that include,
among others, a 35-year supply contract with Libby’s
Fruits worth $500 million and challenged Recto to review
and open to public scrutiny these deals.
He also
mentioned the $200-million deal with Abundant Biofuels,
which intends to invest in Mindanao.
“We want
to know what are the conditions and the nitty-gritty of
these contracts because [they involve] farmers and the
country’s agricultural lands,” said Mariano. “On its
face, such a huge amount of so-called investments in
fruit and biofuels production will cover and require
enormous tracts of lands. These will replicate the
decades-old virtual ownership and control of our lands
enjoyed by US-based agribusinesses like Del Monte and
Dole in Mindanao,” he added.
Albay
Gov. Joey Salceda, an economic adviser to President
Arroyo, meanwhile, welcomed Recto’s appointment. “As a
colleague in the House, Recto was a hard-working
chairman of the Committee on Economic Affairs of the
10th Congress. He has excellent credentials in economics
and brings to Neda the expertise in how a policy becomes
law, secure budgets and get executed.”
He added
that “Ate Vi”—referring to Mrs. Recto, Batangas Gov.
Vilma Santos—“spices” his viewpoint with an “LGU
perspective. . .We get two in one—Ate Vi for home
economics and Ralph for political economy.”
Apart
from the VAT law, Recto also authored the special
economic zone law, comprehensive tax reform law, Social
Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act, retail trade
liberalization law, lateral attrition law, sin tax law
and rent control law among others. (With Danny
Calleja, Fernan Marasigan) |
