Imee Marcos: There’s great change in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines —  Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos said there have been many changes on the notion that Cebu is an opposition country.

"In the old days, Cebu was considered an opposition country, but that's only Cebu City; my father always won in Cebu Province," Marcos told reporters during her visit to Cebu yesterday.

Marcos, a candidate for senator, said they have plenty of friends here in Cebu.

"It’s great; there is a great change. There is a sea of change in the psychology of Cebu or, probably, my attitude as well," Marcos said about the reception of Cebuanos.

VAT

Meanwhile, Marcos called for the immediate one-year suspension of the Value Added Tax on basic food commodities, fuel, and electricity.

She said doing so would address the record-high inflation that has burdened Filipinos for several months now.

Marcos, in a separate statement, said the combination of substitute measures can offset the expected revenue loss from her proposed VAT suspension.

The temporary lifting of the VAT on basic commodities will provide urgent much-needed relief to Filipinos as inflation hit the hardest in the countryside. She said poor Filipinos cannot wait for anti-inflation strategies that could take months to work.

“They need solutions now,” Marcos said.

She added that a combination of a 10 percent improvement in income tax collection, higher absorptive capacity or much less agency underspending, and three other measures can generate P362 billion in revenues.

That would replace the VAT that would be missed, she said.

According to the Department of Finance, basic food items such as rice, fish, meat and vegetables have been major drivers of inflation this year, with the contribution of rice alone rising 10 times to one percentage point of the inflation rate.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Agency showed that rice was the number one contributor to inflation in September 2018, and that food items in the consumption basket accounted for more than half of the inflation rate in the same month.

"Filipinos cannot wait for global oil prices to go down. Prices are already too high for Filipinos living below the poverty line. Removing the VAT would lighten the burden on millions of Filipino households,” Marcos said.

Marcos said further that VAT suspension will run parallel to anti-inflation measures of the Duterte economic team and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“It will buy time for the recovery and expansion of the agricultural sector. Filipinos, most especially the poor, will be clear-cut winners if we can suspend VAT for a year as this will bring down the prices of food, fuel and electricity,” she said.

Marcos said further that while President Rodrigo Duterte cannot amend the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, he can suspend its implementation through an executive order. — JMO (FREEMAN)