’Ako ang boss ninyo’

If we had “Ikaw ang boss ko” with P-Noy, it’s definitely “Ako ang boss ninyo” with President Rody. In his inaugural State of the Nation Address (SONA), the president was very much the captain of the ship, albeit a seemingly reluctant one during some instances.

Nonetheless, President Rody clearly showed the charisma most Filipinos expected from the top leader of the country during a time when economic growth has shown its demands for radical changes in a still antiquated bureaucratic system.

All of the issues he had picked on, including his pet peeve drug trafficking, are within the list of responsibilities that an effective government should be focusing on, and that Filipinos have been clamoring to be solved.

And while the proverbial honeymoon period is still in effect and the nation waits for promises to be fulfilled, the optimism for promised changed has very much charged the current atmosphere with exuberant hope for a better tomorrow.

President Rody has taken the war on drugs to a level far more than any other president of this country has, and while this is not an a priority issue for majority of Filipinos, the manner by which the president chooses to tackle the problem is what enamors his citizens.

The president, however, is also articulate about the many other problems his countrymen personally confront: red tape in government offices (passports, business permits, driver’s license, vehicle registration, OFW processing), traffic, food for the poorest, even WiFi in public places like hospitals.

The compassion he displays for the miseries that Filipinos suffer, including of family members of those killed in the many wars waged in conflict zones involving Muslims, communists, minorities, and the government’s armed forces, is a precious (even rare) emotion that has won Filipinos’ trust.

That, and his seeming honesty. Without going into sloganeering such as Daang Matuwid, President Rody is saying he will not condone corruption of any form or at any level of government. Clearly, to the enchantment of many Filipinos, he barks, “I am the boss.”

Vision for the country

Going beyond the complaints of the ordinary citizen, somewhere in the realm for economists and planners, is the “plan” for the country – which President Rody himself expressed during his first SONA as best left to his trusted lieutenants.

This doesn’t mean, though, that the Duterte imprint will not be apparent in this side of governance. Indeed, he has pledged to continue to support the current macroeconomic policies, “and even do better.”

He elucidates: “We will achieve this through prudent fiscal and monetary policies that can help translate high growth into more and better job creation and poverty reduction. By the end of my term, I hope – I hope and pray – to hand over an economy that is much stronger, characterized by solid growth, low and stable inflation, dollar reserves, and robust fiscal position.”

Delivered during the SONA, the above paragraph (and many others that dealt with macroeconomic policies) did not contain the personal aplomb of his other statements (and which usually did not receive the same enthusiastic applause).

Just how closely will he oversee the development of the national economic development plan is something that time will tell. In the meantime, the ball will clearly be on the side of his trusted and appointed Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez.

Pursuing tax reforms

Tax reforms have so far been the most popular pledge of the Duterte regime on the economic side. This has been translated to having a simpler, “more equitable, and more efficient” tax system that would foster more investments in the country, and consequently, more jobs.

While well received by businessmen and salaried workers, these reforms are premised on several conditions, all of which operate under the principle that there should not be any losses in state revenue collections. In essence, if you want lower income taxes, then there should better be tax collections from somewhere to replace what will be lost.

In fact, the tax reform program the Duterte government has vowed to adopt is so patterned after what former Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima had presented to Dominguez during their turnover sessions. The sweetener was a promised P164.5 billion to P351 billion in revenues for the first year of implementation.

This, however, comes with a bitter pill. The value-added tax has to be raised to 14 percent from the current 12 percent, and excise taxes on gasoline, diesel, and other oil products needs to be indexed to inflation.

Furthermore, the Bank Secrecy Law needs to be eased so that the Bureau of Internal Revenue can go after tax evaders. The whole package of fiscal incentives needs to be reviewed and rationalized, too, something that has been in the works for a long time but has not gained traction because of the complexity of the matter.

If these predicates are not carried out, the government may lose as much as P222 billion in revenues a year alone, if personal income taxes are reduced to 25 percent from the current 32 percent. Expect more revenue losses if corporate income taxes, which is the highest in the ASEAN region, is reduced.

Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism

Other initiatives on the economic side include encouraging investments in the manufacturing, tourism, and agriculture sectors to generate new jobs. In manufacturing, the intention is to reinvigorate manufacturing in the automobile, machinery, food, garments, and electronics industries.

On the agriculture side, the vision is to transform and upgrade the Philippines to become an agribusiness hub in ASEAN, focusing on high value crops such as rubber, coconut, mangoes, coffee, cacao, banana, palm oil and other emerging agricultural products.

Tourism has also been mentioned as essential to the new administration’s economic program. This would entail full support for infrastructure projects that would transform the Philippines into a desirable destination by tourists seeking adventures during their holidays.

How specifically President Rody and his trusted Cabinet members will be able to execute the economic programs to benefit the country should become clearer in the days to come.

As the various stakeholders of this nation come together, we shall know if the Duterte demeanor can be likened to Singapore’s iconic Lee Kuan Yew. Otherwise, President Rody will just be another president that will have been forced to contend with the many varied and conflicting interests in this nation that has slowed down the country’s full takeoff in the past.

In that case, we will have to pray for a succession of a few more similar future leaders so the change that Filipinos have been wishing for will indeed come true.

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