Mercado, Ralph Louie O.

March 28, 2015

4POL1 Dr. Edwin Martin

Reaction to the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016

The video showed the Philippine Development Plan from 2011 to 2016 under the

term of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. This paper aims to provide a reaction to

video and the PDP of President BS Aquino on what actually happened based on the

view of the author.

It was said that the government is generating funds for infrastructure project

through better tax collection and more rational budget allocation and are relying on

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) for its infrastructure projects.

Tax

It is indeed evident that the tax collection has become very noticeable under the

BS Aquino administration when he appointed Kim Henares as the commissioner of the

Bureau of Internal Revenue. She is very strict and bold in pursuing tax evaders as well

as corrupt bureaucrats under her. Probably the most known case of her is her pursuit of

the tax of Congressman Manny Pacquiao as a boxer. It is true that everyone is

obligated to pay their taxes to the government even if you reason out that the

government is corrupt. The problem is not in the tax that is being collected but the

person who is under the government. As citizens of the Philippines, tax should be

properly paid and for it to be utilized properly also depends on the citizens as they are

the ones who elect people in the government. Still, Philippines have the highest income
tax rate in the ASEAN region that renders other foreign direct investment (de Vera,

2015).

Inadequate Infrastructure

It seems that the government is primarily relying on the help of Private

Companies in funding their large infrastructure projects. There are only 4 train services

in the country, LRT 1, LRT2, MRT3 and the PNR. All of these only routes to Metro

Manila. The MRT3 specifically encounters lots of problems. The recent increase in the

price of ticket in LRT1, LRT2 and MRT3 was in line with the adoption of the PDP

principle of user-pays principle where the riders will shoulder more for their trips as the

government have been subsidizing the cost (DOTC, 2014).

It is somehow redundant because the government is increasing its revenue as

they collect a lot of tax due to the effective leadership of Kim Henares and is now

reducing its subsidy in the train transport system. Abaya argued that the savings from

the increase in fare would mean the equitable distribution of funds as the only one

benefitting from the train transport system are in Metro Manila, It would be allocated in

Visayas and Mindanao (DOTC, 2014). It really is redundant because budget should be

spent and not saved. The government already has its budget for relief and rehabilitation

of natural calamities destroyed areas. The budget that was allocated should be spent on

where it is allocated.

Freedom of Information Act

According to the video, the passage of the Freedom of Information Act will

strengthen the anti-corruption drive of the government. It is however refuted by the

president himself when he said that he cannot certify the bill as urgent since there is no

emergency that would require its immediate passage (Gutierrez, 2014). It was one of

his platforms in the 2010 presidential elections but now he himself only claims to just

see to it that it is passed under his administration when he only has 1 year left. He was

even quoted saying When we look at the FOI, was there any information we hid from

you or from anybody? Were we not very transparent? it is not him who decides if his

administration is indeed transparent but the people.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/67494-aquino-foi-bill

http://business.inquirer.net/187238/high-tax-rates-rule-changes-deter-investors-tmap-

says

http://www.dotc.gov.ph/index.php/2014-09-02-05-01-41/2014-09-03-06-43-32/85-lrt-mrt-

fares-to-be-increased-on-jan-4