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Monday, March 09, 2005
Bigger protest Wednesday against VAT
CEBU CITY -- Since her landslide victory in Cebu last year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has never had to face major rallies here against her administration. That could change Wednesday.
Cebuanos against the proposed value-added tax (VAT) increase will greet Arroyo with a protest rally Wednesday afternoon, as she meets with her economic advisers and some mayors at the Malacañang sa Sugbo.
Two broad coalitions against the tax increase, the VAT Oppositors in Cebu (Vatoc) and Katawhan Batok sa VAT Increase (komVATi!), will gather in five assembly areas and march to the Fuente Osmeña oval at 2:30 p.m.
Organizers hope to gather thousands, like Imelda Gonzalez, 34, a housewife from Minglanilla who brought her daughter, Karen, 3, to a rally Tuesday in front of Metro Gaisano on Colon St.
Gonzalez hopes the government will listen to her call to uplift the lives of her six children and her husband, a stonecraft factory worker who earns P125 a day.
Women and children braved the rain and marched from Fuente Osmeña to downtown Colon to call attention to hunger and poverty, in time for the observance of the 95th International Women's Day.
Apart from opposition to the VAT increase, the rallyists also objected to the proposed national ID system and anti-terrorism policies; called for the approval of a P125 wage increase; and asked for an increase in the education budget.
Members of the women's group Gabriela will again raise their arguments against a higher VAT in Wednesday's rally, which will bring together representatives from the academe, religious groups and people's organizations.
Organizers said that while President Arroyo claims Cebu made her win last year, they want to remind her that she doesn't always have the support of Cebuanos, especially on "regressive" taxes.
Pressure
The proposed VAT increase of two percent illustrates the balancing act the President is often under pressure to play.
Her administration needs the tax increase and other revenue-generating measures to plug a fiscal deficit and show the international community that government can get its economic house in order.
But the tax increase is widely unpopular here at home.
Determined to sound upbeat, President Arroyo will speak before potential investors and discuss job creation through legal logging during her visit to Cebu Wednesday.
She will deliver a speech during the Philippine Investment Congress at the Shangri-la Mactan Island Resort in Lapu-Lapu City about 10 a.m.
The President also scheduled a meeting with investors, before she will leave for Pier 7 to inspect 43 vans of lumber seized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
After the inspection, President Arroyo will proceed to the warehouse of the Provincial and City Environment and Natural Resources Offices at Pier 3 for a media interaction past 11 a.m.
Entourage
She will then proceed to Malacañang sa Sugbo for a lunch meeting with her economic advisers.
Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Trade and Industry Secretary Juan Santos, Energy Secretary Vincent Perez, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Romulo Neri and Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita are the Cabinet members that will form part of the President's entourage.
She will then meet with the directors of the League of Cities of the Philippines at 3 p.m. and will have a working dinner with Cebu businessmen and representatives of the furniture industry.
Arroyo is scheduled to leave for Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental at 9:30 a.m. Thursday to visit information technology firms, have another media interaction and inaugurate infrastructure projects there.
She will proceed to Siquijor on Friday to inaugurate and inspect other government projects and distribute DENR free patents to beneficiaries, before she leaves for Manila from the Dumaguete City airport.
President Arroyo is said to be eyeing Cebu as a venue for her rest and recreation during the Holy Week. (CYR)
| Post your experiences to the Sun.Star Graduation section. Click here. | 2005-02-24 04:52:02
mcalvo - My graduation was unforgettable to me and to my classmates. I was so drunk the night before graduation. During the ceremony i dozed to the point of snooring even when i was already standing i was half sleeping. Our dean has to call my name twice and the person behind me has to push me just to wake me up... graduations are memorable...enjoy and congratulations to all graduates!
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(March 9, 2005 issue)
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