|
PRESIDENT Arroyo said on Tuesday the government would
spend another P4 billion from the second-quarter
windfall revenues of the value-added tax (VAT) on oil
for subsidies to poor power consumers and senior
citizens, typhoon-damaged infrastructure, rural
hospitals and livelihood loans to families of
public-transport workers.
The
President made the announcement in her opening statement
at the National Disaster Coordinating Council-Cabinet
meeting in Placer, Masbate, where she asserted the
importance of generating enough revenues to ease the
plight of the poor, deemed the most vulnerable to the
oil- and food-price spikes.
“It is
important to have enough funds to provide benefits to
the masses. Fortunately, the national coffers are
increasing, thanks to our tax reforms. Revenue
collections should be further improved so that the
government can adequately respond to the people’s
needs,” she said, again stressing the need for VAT on
oil which lawmakers want modified or suspended.
Mrs.
Arroyo said the P4 billion would come from the windfall
revenues of VAT on oil collected from April to June.
Budget
Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said in an interview with
ANC that the latest “Katas ng VAT” releases will provide
P1 billion each for subsidies to 2 million more lifeline
users, microfinance projects for wives and immediate
families of drivers and conductors of public utility
vehicles, and funds to repair typhoon-damaged
infrastructure on Panay Island and other affected areas.
Andaya
said P500 million will go to upgrading provincial
hospitals from primary to tertiary, and another
P500-million subsidy to senior citizens who are at least
75 years old and not covered by the Government Service
Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System
(SSS).
The
budget chief said the subsidies are not unconstitutional
and had, in fact, been preapproved by Congress through
the 2008 General Appropriations Act’s provision for the
use of unprogrammed funds. |
