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Without. even trying, the adrninistration candidates
$ will wir hands down due to President Rody Duterte's The economic managers had long proved TRAIN eiitics
Dw,ng
hbwabk, endorsement, which voters are relying on for their choice wrong, since it had provided the government tfie fs0al
Noynay come May. space to keep vital social and economic programs going.
und.erspent The yellow candidates are shouting at the top of their They even proved Noynoy wrong in his belief ihat
to keep voices demanding a debate which does not have any other reforming the tax system, which included higher hcome
the budget intention but to gain media attention, since the issues tax reductions, would affect credit ratings.
dcfuit law,,, are recycled from what Sen. Antonio llillanes IV had The country has.been getting upgrades from Fitch
tmWufing manipulated in efforts to please his yellow principals. Ratings, Moody's Investols Service and Standard and
rrleunt
Hoping to win political brownie points, so*" hau" Poor's as a result pf the bold reforms.
opporatnil:ies The economic rnanagers believe that as long as public
tried to drum up the obvious, which were taxes that
bst for the confidence on Rody remains high, the extreme pirtrlic
econon a. they claim have zoomed higher as a result of the Tax
Beform for Acceleration and lnclusion (IRAIN) laq faith on the economy and resiliency of Filipinos follows.
resulting in higher prices of goods. For instance, remittances from overseas Filipino
The TRAIN is the basis of the economic blueprint workers which had tapered during the later years of
that targets an infrastructure buildup to sustain Noynoy had surged strongly to almost $30 billion last year,
strong growth, which three years into the Duterte or about $2.5 billion a month, because of the trust the
administration remains arnong the strongest in theOFW credit Rody to keep their families safe back home.
world. Such confidence in Body was sorely lacking on
The program also includes increased social support Noynoy.
such as in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program During his watch, Noynoy underspent
or 4Ps that answers the basic needs of the poolest-'o,,, ^ ----^-,- to keep the budget deficir low in line
families. ffi. -' ' " ;:tr:#;:;c with the standard prescription of rating
Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, a W bng jrooed agencies and, at the same time, allowed
failed putschist in the mold of W TMN critics the generation of discretionary funds
Tlillanes, even idioticaly suggested the oHS urong, since.il, from savings that were used to achieve
na'
, suspension of the TRAIN law.
' orootani,lne po[tical ends.
voters already know that the likes of
* tffiffif , m.zoy, tfre,.tr1in33a1hp[:1,."1
Alejano have no place in Congress N "A;;i;;;d lalgeted a budget deficit of P266.2
since he would only be a substitute d ati econontu: billion of two percent of gross domestic
for Trillanes whose main agenda programs going, product (GDP).
^e
will be to bring down the Duterte rc Targeted spending of P2,284 trillion
administration. ry that year was not met is actual outlay was only P1.982
There were also calls for the t triilion, or a difference of P302 billion.
suspension of excise taxes and the ffi Also in 2015, the final year of Noynoy, the budget deficit
blocking of Rody's second TRAIN ffi target was P283.7 billion or two percent ofGDP, but actual
law, which are all meant to, of ffi deficit was less than half at P121,7 billion'
course, derail the success of the sK Underspending meant opportunities lost for the
current administration. W. economy. I
The TRAIN in its second phase ffi& Administration candidates need only Rody's say so
targets tho overhauling of business WWW for them to get in the Senate or in other elected posts.
taxation and incentives. The first W The yellow blockheads believe that taking potshots at
run of the reform measure is re Rpdy. and his programs would give them votes. Wait till
already achieving its expected 'q po day.
fruits with revenue colleetions
consecutively hitting government targets.
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