Press Release
July 25, 2007

PRESENT DETAILED PRIVATIZATION PLAN - ROXAS

Senator Mar Roxas said the administration must present the details of its plan to dispose of prime government assets as a means to meet revenue targets for the year.

"In the interest of transparency, Finance Secretary Teves should reveal to the public what government assets will be sold, to whom and for how much. It must also be remembered that there is a bidding process to be followed, which we cannot simply cut short just to include the sale among 2007 revenues," Roxas said.

"Hindi pwedeng gawing ukay-ukay ang mga pag-aari ng gobyerno para lang matapalan ang kakulangan ng koleksyon ng BIR at BoC," he said. "Selling assets is a one-off deal. Once done, you're left with the perpetual problem of collecting proper taxes, which can only be solved by better tax administration," he said.

He said a clear financial plan to meet revenue shortfalls will help assure foreign investors and credit rating agencies such as Fitch that our fiscal targets for the year are indeed achievable. "We do want to meet these targets and everyone must pitch in to help sustain our economic growth. But if our citizens don't know what the financial plan is, how can they help?"

Roxas noted that although the President has outlined her projects for the next three years, the source of funding for this has not been clear. "Just like in any business, you have to consider both sources, and uses, of funds. The uses were elaborated on in the last Monday's SONA, but sources are still not well-defined."

Roxas' call for greater transparency in the government is one of the urgent issues that he will be raising in a speech he will deliver before Kilosbayan and Bantay Katarungan in a forum on Thursday afternoon.

Senator Roxas is expected to tackle national security issues and other problems correlated to the weakening of public institutions. "We must reflect the real problems so that real solutions can be sought," he said.

"The vision of turning the Philippines into a first-world country holds no water, if the institutions that were created to protect the poor and promote general stability remain weak," he said.

"Our focus should be on how to grow the real economy and not just the financial market. The stock market is different from the palengke, and unless Juan dela Cruz reaps the benefits of progress here in our country, then they will continue to look elsewhere," Roxas said.

Also attending the forum are former Senate Presidents Franklin Drilon, who will be giving a speech on the Human Security Act of 2007, and Jovito Salonga, who is also Kilosbayan Chairman Emeritus.

The event will be held at the Dr. Jose P. Laurel Hall of Freedom in Lyceum of the Philippines University, Intramuros in Manila at 2 p.m.

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