Submitted by:

LOLITA G. PANAGA

Submitted to:

Mr. JAIME R. AMBAYEC

Introduction:
Fiscal policy plays an important role in influencing the economic direction of
our country. When talking about fiscal policy, the Philippine government generally
refers to two major government economic activities: taxation and spending. The
national budget is a major fiscal instrument of the government that determines how
much of its energy and resources are devoted to these two major activities. The
development of a fiscal policy generally has four primary purposes or functions;
these are the allocation, distribution, stabilization, and development. This pertains on
the expenditure of a country in sustaining the proposed projects to make the nation a
better place to live in.

Discussion:
For the incoming 2016 Presidential Election, the five candidates showcased
their platform of government. Among these that captured my interest is the platform
of government presented by Vice President Jejomar Binay in terms of taxation. He
said that he supports the transformation of the taxation system and that is to lower
the personal and corporate income tax. He urged that the government must take an
action to strengthen the economic situation that has been shown through continuing
increase the tax base but not in increasing the tax of the earners but to improve the
obedience and collection policy of the government. His stand of government to
exempt the wagers below Php30,000.00 monthly from paying taxes would lead
preferences or bias to the individual earner who are self-employed. A person
employed enjoys the Php10,000.00 as the tax exemption base. They can even
receive a maximum of Php30,000.00 bonus, 13th month pay, other pay and benefits

which is proposed to increase to Php70,000.00 and the minimum wage exemption.

They can enjoy a full tax exemption on salaries, overtime, and hazard and night
differential payment.
On the other hand, the self-employed is given only a Php10,000 tax
exemption base and nothing follows. To give a concrete definition of self- employed
in the Philippine setting, these are the people owning a micro, small and medium
enterprises like: carinderias, and different kinds of shops. Moreover, the people who
used their talents for a living, such as: the actors, actresses, singers and many more.
Comparing the benefits gained by the two individuals, I can tell that the
proposed plan of Vice President Binay is truly biased against small business. On the
other side, I took the platform of government that belongs to Senator Grace Poe
which I am in favor to the policies she created. She will simplify our tax system to
reduce corruption in the government. The income tax rates of individual wage
earners will be reduced to increase their purchasing power. This is good news
especially to the people earning within the minimum wage. Pursuing this as her
platform of government will reduce the number of Filipinos who belong under the
marginal level of living. Though they have the same goal with Vice President Binay
that they will transform the taxation process, Senator Grace Poe was very holistic in
defining her reform program.
Moreover, she will reduce corporate tax rates to attract more investors, create
new jobs for Filipinos, and help the government increase its revenues. It is vital to
boost the governments collection efficiency and tax effort. She will achieve this by
providing a system for incentives and sanctions, undertaking intensive antismuggling campaigns, improving taxpayer services, and applying the full extent of

the

law

against

tax evaders and

smugglers.

Eliminating

these

kind

of

actions/programs in the government will lead our country to the Tiger Economy of
Asia which once we had during the time of President Fidel V. Ramos.

My Priority as a Fiscal Adviser

If I am chosen to be one of the Fiscal Adviser of the next Philippine President I
will first cure the mind bragging illness of our country and that is the PEACE AND
ORDER. I do believe that peace is the state of being free from any kind of human
conflict and violence. I do believe that all the activities of the country run smoothly in
the situation of peace. It is the sign of development and prosperity in any forms of
organization in the country. Human rights are not violated by others wherein the
Commission on Human Rights serves as the watchdog in defending the rights of
every citizen of the country. People can walk freely from one place to another without
having any fear in their mind. They can do their business without any obstruction.
People respect each other rights and they are also committed to fulfil their duty
towards their society. Rules and orders are respected by all and it can also raise
their living standard by working hard. Peace brings happiness among people
because they are involved in development activities. It helps promote human rights,
democratic norms and values. It also helps to create the feeling of love, trust,
tolerance, and brotherhood among people. Development process cant go ahead
without peace and harmony.
This goal will be achieved if the President will create a conducive climate for
pursuing political settlement by fine-tuning coordination mechanisms to the leftist
people. They will ensure the inclusive participation of the youth, women, indigenous
people, and other sectors in the peace process to maintain and ensure the equality
of these individuals. Next, the objective of promoting crime prevention through
environmental design strategies such as installation of CCTVs, installation and
maintenance of lampposts, and increased police presence per sq.km in crime-

infested areas will definitely reduce the crime rate. Another thing that we need to
pursue is to implement curfew to the teenagers below 18. In this manner we can
lessen the crime which these people will likely to involve.
Through these designed strategies in promoting the peace and order, our
country will surely achieve vast development that we are longing for. The next priority
will be the EDUCATION. This is one of the major problems of our country nowadays.
Putting the country in the map of well-educated countries is painstakingly difficult
because it demands lot of resources to achieve it. Transforming the curriculum from
RBEC to K-12 gives us the dilemma to suffice the needed materials in pursuing this
program. The present administration has several flaws in the education system and it
is very difficult to change it abruptly. Shortages in classrooms, teachers, seats,
books, and even toilet is a very big problem that besiege the education process at
this moment. For a country whose biggest export is manpower / skilled workers,
human capital spending is a serious matter, and should be on the top priority of the
government. In addition to that we need to work towards lowering the classroom to
student ratio by building more high schools and distributing them evenly across the
country to ensure that classrooms are not crowded. It is also essential to raise the
salaries of public school teachers to PhP 25,000 from the current PhP 19,077 under
the SSL 4. This will enable us to attract better teachers and increase the number of
good students who will pursue teaching as a career. Giving what is due to the people
involved in the process will also give what is due in terms of service. Therefore for a
program to go through, right appropriation is essential to deliver a smooth program
implementation. Mandated by the Philippine Constitution, the government must
allocate the highest proportion of its budgetary needs to education.

A well-functioning healthcare system, according to the World Health

Organization (WHO), provides equitable access to quality care regardless of
peoples capacity to pay while protecting them against the financial consequences of
ill health. This led me to make the HEALTH CARE as my third priority as a fiscal
adviser. The government provide us health care in the form of Phil Health, but the
question lies on our head is that Is this enough to save a life? Probably the answer
is no, why, because the coverage is very trifling that cant cater the overall need of a
sick person. The deleterious side of it is that you are not allowed to use the health
care unless you are not admitted within for days and above. So proper revisions to
the range of using this health care must be perceived because the poor people are
greatly affected. They will just die without any medication being served.
Moreover, building hospitals to the rural area and proper health education will
probably lessen the health problems.
The fourth priority is the INFASTRACTURE. The Philippines has been one of
the fastest-growing economies in Asia in recent years. The gross domestic product
rose abruptly based on economists. In addition to news, streamlined government
spending processes and the paying down of public debt, much of the improvement in
the economy is linked to the anticorruption efforts of President Benigno S. Aquino III.
On the other hand, the infrastructure problems now threaten to hold the
Philippines back from reaching the next level, economically speaking, and improving
its manufacturing base. Infrastructure problems have surpassed corruption as the
leading economic obstacle. According to the most recent reports, which is based on
responses from people doing business in the country, Manila is plagued by power
failures, chronic water shortages, an old-fashioned telecommunications system,

deteriorating roads and bridges and very disgusted airport. These problems would
pull down the country in the stage of entering the road of progress. In relation with
the problem, the government must contemplate a solution like: building more roads
to ease the congested traffic in Metro Manila, enhance the facilities of the public
utility transportation like MRT, LRT and PNR to give the best service to the people. In
this way the employees going to their respective work will not be late and the
expected production would be achieved.
Another mechanism that the government should give more attention in the
infrastructure project is the water supply. At this very moment, our country is in the
midst of El Nino phenomenon which not only affects the water supply in every house
but also in agriculture. The effect of this phenomenon cost us too much in the
agricultural products which leads us to import more of agricultural products in other
countries just to meet the demand of the country most especially rice.
Addition to the problem that talks about infrastructure is the electricity, we all
know that the Philippines is one of the most expensive electricity in Asia. Building
more Solar Power and windmill as a source of electricity will lessen our liability in
paying our electric bills. The government should also give subsidy in the electricity
and fuel discount to lessen the burden of the many.
Last but not the least priority in fiscal spending is the FOOD SECURITY.
Considering the fact that the Philippines is an agricultural country, the country
remains to be among the countries that suffer the most problems in food shortage in
Southeast Asia. Nowadays, food security in the country is threatened by global,
political, economic and environmental threats. Political threats include food policies,
laws, civil unrest and related threats. Economic threats, on one hand, are

depression, recession, inflation, devaluation, and other concerns. Environmental

threats consist of natural calamities, disasters such as typhoon, floods, drought, and
earthquake, and climate change. Lastly, global threats include those trade
agreements and international relations that could affect global supply of food. The
government must transform the plotted methods to configure the best solution to the
problem faced by the government in terms of food security.