THURSDAY / MAY 23, 2019
WWWINQUIRER.NET
It's up to Congress
r! he Philippines has risen to BBB+ in the
I Standard & Poor's rating, just one lev-
I el below the desirable AAA rating
I $oup. tt can get to that much coveted
AAA if Congress acts now.
The administration is doing the right
things. lnfrastructure is being built, the
bureaucracy is going online, its fiscal
house is in order, money is being properly
controlled.lt's the reforms Congress must
agree to that are stalled. If it passes some
key bills in this last session (May 2o-June
7), rhe Philippines can get there, and even
sooner than the usual two years to re-
view.
The administration has shown its will
to get tough things dond, with unpopular
but beneficial changes enacted. President
Duterte and his economic team under Car-
los "Sonny" Dominguez lII have imple-
mented changes that previous govern-
ments were too fearful to do. Among these
were the creation of a Bangsamoro au-
tonomous area, revision of some tax lawsi
decision on a second national airport and
allowing a third telco to operate.
The Duterte administration also ap-
proved the rice tariffication law and
cleaned the cesspool that was Boracay,
with Manila Bay next on its agenda. A na-
tional ID (Philsys)willbe introduced in the
next few years. Meanwhile, the well-con-
ceived "Build, build, build' program has
proved to be a fundamental game changer,
a foundation upon which much else can be,
and is being, built.
Some of them were with the help of
Congress in passing the needed laws, in-
cluding the Tax Reforrn for Acceleration
and Inclusion, or TMIN, and dce tariffica-
tion laws where lawmakers bucked pop-
ulism and did the right thing.
There are a few more "right things"
that Congress needs to act on in its la'st
sessions, if that upgrade is to happen and,
more importantly, if economic Srowth
and the people's well-being are to be im-
3. Amendments to the Public Service
Act to increase foreign investments in key
economic sectors such as telecommunica-
tions, shipping and airports and seaports,
and provide competition that will lower
prices and irnprove services to consumers
4. Amendments to the Foreign lnvest-
ments Act, where the proposed measure
empowers the National Economic and De-
velopment Authority, the Department of
Trade and Industry, the Board of Invest-
ments and other concerned agencies to re-
view the foreign investment negative list
LlKE lI l$
PETER\/lr'ALLACE
yearly and reponto Congress. The propos-
al "excludes the practice of professions
from the coverage of the Foreign Invest-
ments Act to allow other laws to govem
proved through bills that may not be pop- foreign nationals practicing ttreir profes-
ular. but can reallv make a-difference. sion in the Philippines."
with elections ovei and-ihe ibit a long 5. Build-operate-transfer law amend-
three years from now, the members ofthis ments, to allow other forms ofpublic-pri-
Congress can do these right things with- vate partnership such as ioint ventures
out risking their appeal to voters. Any and attract more foreign investors willing
public negativism will be long forgotten to participate in the government's mas-
by May 2022. sive infrastructure development pro-
I appeal to Congress-help our country gram; also, to exempt projects of national
by passing tlese bills: significance from paying real property tax
r. The four Tax Reform for Attracting 6. Freedom of Information Act, to im-
Better and'High-Quality Opportunities or prove transparency in government trans-
Trabaho bills, particularly No.2-to re- actions and raise the country's global anti-
duce corporate income tax and rational- corruption ranking, a maior prerequisite
ize incentives; it needs some minor among potential foreign investors, and de-
amendments to arrive at incentives that manded by the public.
the Department of Finance and investors 7. Amendments to the Retail Trade Lib-
could agree to. The bills will modernize eralizationAct to ensure the entry of more
and revolutionize our tax system, and foreign retailers into the country and in-
their approval will lead to faster econom- tensify competition in the local market,
ic growth and more investments in busi- which should eventually benefit con-
ness. sumers. The bill proposes to lower the
2. Imergency powers to declog Edsa paid-up capital threshold for foreigners to
and get traffic moving, and hasten the con- own retail businesses in the country to
struction of major infrastructure proiects $5oo,ooo from$2.5 million.
in key cities throughout the country. we Let's have Congress retire with a job
can t sit for hours on a mere 10 kilomelers well done, and an economy able to rise
of road (Cubao,'Quezon CitY to Ayala, above itself.
Makati) iust to get to work or conduct busi-
ness- E-mail: wallace-likeitis@wbf.ph
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