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Thursday, February 02, 2006
Editorials: RVAT burden
Government collecting starting this month the two percent increase in the reformed value-added tax (RVAT) shows that lawmakers and President Arroyo were not honest to the people from the beginning.
To ease public worries over the revenue-generating move, Congress passed an RVAT law that immediately implemented a 10 percent RVAT, with the President given the power to raise the tax by two percent more depending on the situation.
We now know that the said provision of the RVAT law actually didn’t matter because the President was bent on implementing the additional two percent tax anyway.
Carrying the burden
There is no going back anymore on the matter, however.
RVAT and its effects on the finances of majority of Filipino families in the country is like a tsunami that has reached the coast.
What one can do for now is to make adjustments in spending to be able to survive the rise in the cost of commodities and services---and after that, hope for the best.
Also, pressure must be continuously exerted on government to ensure that the RVAT won’t be abused by sectors trying to cash in on its implementation.
Monitoring, vigilance
Because RVAT has increased the tax burden on the people, there is also a need for them to be aware of how the Arroyo administration will spend the money generated by the measure.
RVAT revenues, for example, are coming in only a little more than year before the 2007 elections, raising the possibility these will be spent in the poll campaign instead of for the public good.
On this, it would be wrong to set aside the lessons of the 2004 elections wherein government money was reportedly used to prop up the campaign of some candidates.
Then there is the matter of corruption, one of the reasons why people have always been resistant to efforts by the government to impose additional taxes.
Indeed, it would be tragic if the money government squeezed from the pockets of the people will end up in the bank accounts of corrupt public officials.
Not helpless
The problem there is the widespread indifference that has allowed government officials and other sectors to commit abuses freely and, in some instances, even openly.
But there should be a limit to this feeling of helplessness, because only people’s vigilance will ensure that the RVAT burden will benefit the country in the long run.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 2, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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