Press Release
January 26, 2008

ROXAS: PEOPLE'S PLIGHT HIGHER THAN CONCERNS OF
MOODY'S, ET. AL .

CALL FOR SUSPENSION OF VAT ON OIL AN "ISSUE OF FAIRNESS."

Senator Mar Roxas called on the government to ease people's financial burdens rather than projecting a doomsday scenario once a law is enacted to suspend the 12% value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum products.

"It's an issue of fairness: higit pa sa konsiderasyon ng fiscal crisis, higit pa sa konsiderasyon ng Moody's o Fitch o [Standard & Poor's] about credit worthiness, higit pa sa konsiderasyon na kung saan kukunin ng gobyerno ang pondo para sa kanilang mga gastusin," he stressed.

Speaking on Saturday before various cause-oriented groups who have bonded together as the "People's Unity Against Oil Price Hikes," Roxas emphasized that the previous ailment...that of government fiscal crisis...has now mutated into a different problem, thus, the "medicine" used before should now be changed.

"Ang krisis ngayon ay nasa kay Juan dela Cruz, wala sa gobyerno. Sa panahon ng krisis sa personal na pinansya ni Juan dela Cruz, aba'y ibalik muna ng gobyerno kay Juan dela Cruz," he said.

Roxas debunked the so-called "doomsday scenario"...that fiscal integrity will be destroyed�if VAT on oil will be suspended or removed, which would be worth P30 billion in foregone revenues in a year. In fact, he pointed out that the recent credit upgrade by Moody's on Philippine credit-worthiness means that the government has enough headroom to allow the suspension of VAT on oil.

"Ano ba ang P30 bilyon sa gobyerno? Ito ay 0.4% ng GDP natin. Noong may fiscal crisis, ang utang natin ay 5-6% ng GDP," he stressed.

The Liberal Party President stressed that the savings of the people by removing VAT on oil...translating to more than P4 per liter of diesel and about P65 per 11-kilogram tank of LPG...will be spent anyway: the only difference is it will be the people who will spend rather than the government.

"Sa totoo lang, mababa naman talaga ang kredibilidad ng gobyerno sa paggastos ng ating pera. Kung mga proyekto tulad ng ZTE lamang ang gagastusan, mabuti pang ang perang ito ay maiwan na lang sa bulsa ni Juan dela Cruz," he stressed.

Roxas pointed out that while the government is harping economic growth due to robust stock, currency, bonds and other financial markets, the people's day to day living is heavily affected due to their decreasing purchasing power.

"Ang sabi ng gobyerno, matibay ang ating ekonomiya, na ang ating ekonomiya ay maaaring ma-withstand ang crash sa international stock market. Pero ako, hindi ako natutuwa. Hindi ako nagtataka na sa kabila ng magagandang pananalita ng ating gobyerno, mahirap pa rin talaga ang buhay" he said.

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