Press Release
June 27, 2007

Angara proposes priority concerns of 14th Congress

Were seeing interest rate at record low, lending at the biggest scale, currency is stable, international reserve is huge. Those are the signs of the growing economy. And it will be a pity if we go back to our traditional bickering and constant fighting.

This is Senator Edgardo J. Angaras bid last Thursday during a talk at the Senate Night of the Manila Overseas Press Club at the Intercontinental Hotel where he talked about the six areas of concern that the Senate must give priority to once it convenes next month.

While the Senate agenda will have to be agreed upon in an all-Senate caucus, there are six unavoidable concerns that the Senate should address, he said

He identified these concerns as human resources development, fiscal and financial reforms, job creation, action for the poor, political and administrative reforms, and conclusion of the peace process.

We have to undertake reforms in these areas if we are to maintain our economic momentum and enhance political stability, he explained.

Under the human resource development, Angara emphasized that the Senate should look into ways of making the Philippines competitive through educational emphasis on Science, Math and Engineering, and how to expand health insurance to cover children and the indigents.

Lack of technological innovation is keeping the Philippines from becoming more competitive, he contended.

According to the World Economic Forum, the Philippines slid down from 44 out of 114 countries in the competitiveness scale to 77 in a span of 6 years. While for every Masters of Science graduates the country produces, Vietnam produces 6, Thailand produces 6, and 200 for Singapore. A clear sign of the Philippines waning competitiveness.

On fiscal reform, Angara stressed that it should include the rationalization of the incentive schemes and review of the tax waivers and tax breaks that the government give away every year. He added that the country is losing a quarter of billion pesos from tax waivers and breaks.

He further called on for the review of industries that do not need tax breaks and the redirection of revenues from income-generating agencies such as Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Authority, and the Philippine Tourism Authority, among others.

Their income can amount to over a billion pesos, and these can build all the schools and buy all the books that we need, he added.

Angara is also pushing for the removal of the automatic guarantee by the national government of loans secured by government-owned and controlled corporations. He cited NFA as having about 50 billion in outstanding loans and the NFA officials do not care on how to find ways of repaying the loan because the government has guaranteed it. Under the present system, GOCCs credit worthiness is not reviewed prior to approval of the loan.

He also stressed the importance of stepping-up privatization effort of the NAPOCOR. If we dont privatize, then NAPOCOR will just accumulate all the public debt and continue to pay up those debts largely for electricity we dont use.

On financial reforms, Angara said he would refile his bills that were left pending when the 13th Congress adjourned sine die. These bills pertain to the creation of a credit information bureau, the establishment of a Personal Equity Retirement Account, the Pre-Need Code, Corporate Recovery Act and Mutual Funds Act.

He said that a credit information bureau would lessen the credit risk of banks, lower the cost of lending and enable more borrowers to get loans. He noted that many firms have failed to expand because they could not get loans.

The PERA will benefit millions of overseas Filipinos who are not members of the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System, Angara added.

When it comes to job creation, Angara emphasized the importance of targeting the small-and-medium-scale entrepreneurs. Citing that 95% of jobs in the country are created by the SMEs, he stressed the importance of giving them assistance in terms of technology, input support and credit access.

He further proposed the enhancement of eco-tourism and agri-tourism to hasten job creation at the lowest cost possible thereby improving the rural sector. Tourism is going to create jobs especially in the rural areas if we put our infrastructure in the rural areas, says Angara. But if we want to develop rural tourism, we got to build those access roads so that we can get even domestic tourism, he added.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano expects the country to have 4 million visitors for this year alone surpassing the less than a million visitors from 3 to 4 years back.

Angara also called on the need to help the coconut farmers, considered the poorest farmers in the country. 22 provinces depend on the coconut while almost over a hundred billion pesos in coconut levy funds are locked up and not a cent of which has been spent for the uplift of coconut farmers.

He added the marketability of the fiber of coconut husk and the geotextile which China uses to stop the desert from marching into Beijing and against soil erosion and land fill.

Sadly, the coconut industry gets no help at all, no subsidy, no technical help

He likewise underscored the need to focus on development programs for the upland which houses 20% of the countrys population. He cited a development program for Mindanao sponsored by the European Union which he facilitated while serving as Agriculture Secretary. Up to now they are still supporting it because it has been so successful in helping people in the mountains.

Action for the poor is another area close to the senators heart. We need to put together an affirmative action program for them, especially in education, health and livelihood.

Angaras main proposal for political and administrative reforms focuses on strengthening of the political parties through subsidy. A political party, as understood in the political science sense, is one that pursues a platform, runs itself democratically and is transparent to the public. The political party is the selector and trainor of political leaders, he said.

It is time that we have genuine political parties. What we have are mere groupings of politicians, not political parties, he added.

He underscores the urgency of concluding the peace pact with the MILF because the peace dividend that the country may receive is huge. If we get an agreement its almost like winning the lottery. Years ago, the country spent almost a million pesos a month supporting the military, maybe it is 500 billion a year now, just to maintain our military in Mindanao. Imagine if theres no more fighting in Mindanao, then we can redirect that money to its development.

He also called on the government to resume talk with the National Democratic Front. I hope the Senate will look at these in a newer perspective so that we can give our people the peace that they deserve, so that they can enjoy the blessings of what passes for democracy in our country.

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