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Friday, August 19, 2005
Senate to act on 3 economic proposals
REFUTING Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Juan Ponce Enrile's claims that the Senate is not tackling significant pieces of legislation because of constant quibbling on political issues, Senate President Franklin Drilon said they would start to discuss at least three major economic reform bills that will help solve the country's fiscal problems.
Drilon stressed the need for the Senate to prioritize at least the three economic bills to help the country's ailing economy.
Santiago and Enrile earlier lamented that some senators have been busy attending to "too much politicking," and in turn, had set aside important reforms.
They also said instead of discussing meaningful legislation, the Senate has turned into a venue where some senators criticize the government.
The opposition, for its part, recognized the need for an Anti-Terrorism Act that will strengthen the hands of law enforcement authorities in neutralizing terrorists without sacrificing the civil liberties of the people.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the measure has been the subject of intense debates in the Senate and the House over the past four years.
"The efforts to approve the bill have been stymied by the failure to reconcile the use of iron-hand measures in the anti-terrorist campaign with the need to provide guarantees against abuses of human rights. There are so many concerns on civil liberties that have to be addressed to provide guarantees against abuse of human rights," Pimentel said.
But he agreed that it's high time the Senate also trains its sight on finalizing the bill.
Meanwhile, Drilon denied they were sitting on important pending bills. In fact, he said, he has requested the Senate ways and means committee headed by Senator Ralph Recto to start public hearings on a bill seeking to restore the value-added tax (VAT) exemption on the power sector and another measure extending the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Act to aid the financial sector.
He explained that both measures aim to protect consumers and the power and financial companies from the impact of oil price increases, further aggravated by the messy political crisis in the country.
Drilon noted floor deliberations might commence next week on the proposed amendment to strengthen the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) charter, a measure sponsored by Senator Edgardo Angara, chairman of the banks, financial institutions and currencies committee.
The BSP measure will give Bangko Sentral broader authority to effectively discharge its supervisory and regulatory powers over banks and quasi-banks. The law will also ensure the protection of depositors from possible banking abuse.
The Senate is also set to deliberate on bills seeking to establish the Credit Information Bureau that aims to minimize credit risks by strengthening credit information systems and the Rent Control Law.
Drilon said the recent move of 11 senators, including himself, who filed Senate Bill 2080 to amend the new VAT law (Republic Act 9337), was in response to the public clamor to soften the impact of the VAT law on ordinary consumers.
The bill seeks to amend the e-VAT law by exempting the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of power from the coverage of the new VAT law and deleting the limit on creditable input VAT.
"Ordinary consumers should be spared from the impact of higher electricity bills. By proposing this bill, the Senate members showed sensitivity to the plight of the poor consumers," Drilon said.
He recalled that it was only in April when the National Power Corporation (Napocor) increased its rates by 5.56 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kwh). As it stands, the Philippines already has one of the highest cost of power among Southeast Asian countries, he said.
With the additional 10 percent VAT, however, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) reports that end-consumers will have to pay an additional 80.56 centavos per kwh. For households consuming 200 kwh of electricity a month, this translates to an increase of P167.49.
Drilon said imposing VAT on power sector would also mean a higher cost of doing business, which in turn would be detrimental to government's efforts to attract investments and create additional jobs.
Aside from Drilon, the bill was also sponsored by Senators Manuel "Mar" Roxas III, Rodolfo Biazon, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Jose "Jinggoy" Ejercito Estrada, Richard Gordon, Manuel "Lito" Lapid, Ramon Magsaysyay Jr. and Ramon Revilla Jr.
Last Monday, Drilon formally endorsed the extension of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) law to allow banks more time to dispose of non-performing and repossessed assets under the special purpose vehicle framework.
He noted that the "Special Vehicle Act has facilitated the improvement of the asset quality of the banking sector as a substantial portion of the bad assets of banks have been unloaded using the special purpose vehicle framework."
Citing a report from the BSP, Drilon noted the local banking sector's non-performing loan ration was down to 9.21 percent. The level peaked at 18.81 percent in October 2001, he noted.
Drilon requested Recto's committee "to prioritize consideration of the bills which propose the extension of privileges under the SPV law or Republic Act 9182.
He said the SPV law was one of the bills included in the Senate Priority Reform Agenda for the 13th Congress. The reform agenda, which was crafted during a two-day Senate bipartisan legislative workshop, seeks to provide short, medium and long-term solutions to the country's various economic affairs. (JPM/Sunnex)
(August 19, 2005 issue)
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