Honeymoon period

A third of my income goes to the government. The same goes for anyone whose gross annual individual income is at least P500,000.

This information is based on what a topnotch lawyer told me recently. I’m financially illiterate; I wouldn’t know if the government is withholding the right amount from my monthly paycheck.

With the mandatory 13th month pay, a gross annual income of P500,000 means a monthly salary of nearly P38,462. After 32 percent of that amount is withheld, the take-home pay comes down to a little over P26,000. That’s not a lot for a family of three, much less a family of five, which is still the average family size in this country.

The topnotch lawyer also told me that a reasonable base for the highest rate of income tax should be P10 million. He said that for those earning less, the tax rate should be no more than 25 percent. If I knew how much the .001 percent of the population paid in taxes, the lawyer told me, I might want to stage a revolution. He should know – his clients include several of the .001 percent.

Being financially illiterate, I am one of those who believe death and taxes are inevitable and it’s useless to argue with the revenue collector. As for the 12 percent value-added tax slapped not just on all goods and services but also at every level of consumption, the only reprieve I can think of is old age. I’m looking forward to the day I will qualify for a senior citizen card.

I’m not contemplating a tax revolt – you can’t stage a revolution over something whose details you don’t clearly understand. But I’m sure I’m not the only person cheering President Duterte’s promise to cut individual income tax. (The business community is also cheering the promised cut on corporate taxes.)

Having immediately delivered (he’s still delivering) on his most audacious campaign promise to kill, kill, kill drug suspects and other criminals, people expect Duterte to fulfill the promised tax cut with equal speed and zeal.

Current tax rates are based on the cost of living in 1997 when the National Internal Revenue Code became law. Incomes haven’t grown much since then, and purchasing power of the average salary earner has shrunk. 

Opposition to an income tax cut was one of the biggest negatives in the presidential campaign of the Liberal Party’s Mar Roxas. I was told that Roxas actually favored a tax cut, but could not openly go against the stand of daang matuwid and its finance team.

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Working four months a year for the government becomes a heavier burden when the street where you live looks like the NAIA runway after a downpour, when you have to fork out grease money each time you deal with government, when mass transport facilities keep breaking down and other basic services are delivered badly, and when crooks in government keep pocketing billions in people’s money.

President Duterte, at the start of his term, at least understands that he is expected to improve the delivery of basic services. His order to cut red tape in all executive agencies has been widely applauded; we’re waiting for actual implementation and the directive to be put to the test.

For those impatient to see an improvement in infrastructure to ease Metro Manila traffic, his request for emergency powers makes sense. Using the powers won’t be tainted with corruption, he has vowed; again people expect him to be true to his word.

To ease long lines at government offices, he intends to make passports valid for 10 years and the driver’s license for five years. License plates may be obtained not only at the Land Transportation Office but at the point of sale – the vehicle dealers themselves. We’re presuming that license plates and registration stickers will soon be readily available.

Duterte has made it clear he doesn’t like seeing long queues for goods and services in government offices, which is good news for the public. He announced that tickets for the light railway services and other mass transport facilities would be made available at accredited shopping malls and retail outlets. This is how it is in other countries, where tickets for the subway and inner city trains can be bought from grocery and cigarette stores.

People are also looking forward to free Wi-Fi nationwide. This will require infrastructure, which is currently inadequate even for phone communication. Right now people complain that they have to get out of houses and office buildings just to make phone calls or send text messages – and this is in Metro Manila.

His promises indicate that President Duterte has a good grasp of the state of the nation. For our sake, let’s hope his promises to deal quickly with the problems will be fulfilled.

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Laughter, not tears greeted his first State of the Nation Address. This spawned jokes that Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar must have been peeling onions for his wife when he read the draft SONA.

The first President to junk the “excellency” honorific at least paired his barong Tagalog with dark slacks rather than denim jeans for the SONA.

Duterte not only ditched the formalities but also largely tossed out the prepared speech that Andanar found so moving. Andanar, because of the nature of his job, should learn to be less onion-skinned and to imbibe the sense of humor of his boss. The communications chief openly smarted from criticism of his remark about tearing up over the draft speech.

The speech was mostly disregarded by the speaker, to hilarious effect. Palace officials should understand that this informal style is what has endeared Rodrigo Duterte to 92 percent of the population, and 97 percent of people in Mindanao.

Even while drenching the streets with blood (mostly of the hampaslupa), President Duterte is showing that he understands the basic needs that government must deliver (efficiently) to ordinary Filipinos.

He will enjoy some breathing space to fulfill his promise of better services. Despite all the violence and bloodshed, President Duterte is enjoying a honeymoon period. In this country, the honeymoon can be abruptly aborted. He must make every minute count.