Confidence

Rep. Janette Garin made a spectacle of herself this week.

The former health secretary tried to prevent her colleague, Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza, from continuing his speech on the floor. She angrily raised a point of order and then tried to abort the session by asking for a roll call. At one point, she asked the sergeant-at-arms to physically remove Atienza from the plenary hall.

What provoked Garin’s blatant display of arrogance on the floor?

Earlier in the week, Atienza questioned another legislator who was proposing adding P800 million to the DOH budget to fund anti-polio vaccination. This was after the House had passed the spending bill.

Atienza tried to call attention to the problem of public confidence in government’s vaccination campaign.

That public confidence was eroded first in the nineties when pro-life groups managed to get the courts to stop a tetanus toxoid vaccination program when they found out that 20 percent of the vaccines tested showed presence of a hormone called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG). The hormone interfered with pregnancy.

Public confidence was further eroded because of the Dengvaxia controversy that happened during Garin’s watch at the DOH. That controversy, we will recall, is both about the reliability of the said vaccine as well as about the process that led to its hurried implementation.

In 2014 and 2015, the DOH made no request for anti-dengue vaccination. Then in 2016, on the eve of elections, government hurriedly procured billions worth of the vaccine and vaccinated tens of thousands of children without pilot testing. Cases have been filed against Garin and former President Benigno Aquino III for the way this matter was handled.

Garin later accused Atienza of spreading “fake news.” In response, Atienza requested for privileged time to rebut the accusation as he was directly named. The rules committee gave him the ten minutes he was entitled to.

It was in the course of delivering his rebuttal that Garin rose, hysterically demanding Atienza be prevented from speaking further. Her demeanor baffled the presiding officer, the House staff and the legislators present.

Atienza was correct in raising the matter about low public confidence in government-sponsored vaccination campaigns. That confidence problem is not relieved by the spectacle Garin pulled on the floor this week.

We will be wasting public funds if we continue buying vaccines that people are reluctant to avail of. The credibility of government vaccination programs can only be restored through a full examination of the Dengvaxia controversy that might lead to closure if the guilty are punished.

Garin, by her bizarre demeanor, does not help that cause.

Productive

The Garin sideshow notwithstanding, the House of Representatives demonstrated capacity to do work.

In just over two months since the 18th Congress commenced, over 5,000 bills have been filed. The proposed 2020 General Appropriations Bill was passed after nine extended session days. Much of economic reform bills are either making good progress in the committee level or debated in plenary.

On Aug. 20, the House moved swiftly to approve on third and final reading Package 2 Plus of the President’s comprehensive tax reform program. This measure (HB 1026) seeks to increase taxes on alcohol products and electronic cigarettes.

On Sept. 9, the House approved two more priority measures: HB 304 or the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Act (PIFITA) and HB 300 amending the Foreign Investments Act.

PIFITA will simplify taxes on capital income and financial services. This will benefit savers with lower tax rates and encourage broader inclusion in the financial system.

The amendment to the Foreign Investments Act will allow foreign investors to own small- and medium-sized enterprises with paid-up capital of less than $100,000 if they involve advanced technologies or if they directly employ at least 15 employees. This will improve our position in the global technology game.

More recently, the House passed HB 4157 or the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA). This is Package 2 of the comprehensive tax reform program. It will bring down the corporate income tax rate to regional benchmarks, removing a major disincentive for foreign direct investments into our economy. It will also make introduce transparency and accountability to our incentives system and therefore provide an even playing field for new investments.

Only Package 3, which aims to reform the system of property valuation in the country, remains to be acted upon by the House. President Duterte also endorsed for swift approval amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act that will improve competitiveness in this sector.

Unfortunately, two senators have chosen to smear the work of the House by claiming the budget bill is laden with pork for the congressmen. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, without offering evidence, claimed the budget bill contained P700 million for each congressman and an additional P1.5 billion each in pork barrel funds for each of the 22 deputy speakers.

It is hard to imagine such large amounts could be tucked away from view in the budget document. Individual congressmen have challenged Lacson to either substantiate his claims or just quietly study the budget document recently passed on to the Senate for their concurrence.

Drilon, for his part, accused the House of creating a small committee to manage insertions into the budget after it was passed in plenary. It turns out it is usual practice each year for the House to appoint a committee to see through the budget approval process.

The unfounded allegations made by the senators clouded the efficient work the House put in in getting both the General Appropriations Act and important pieces of economic legislation through the process.