By Butch Fernandez & Catherine N. Pillas
The Senate leadership said it is keen on passing two economic bills before President Aquino steps down in 2016—the controversial Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (Timta) and a bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
In a discussion with reporters and editors of the ALC Media Group on Friday, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said the Timta—a transparency measure gaining ground in Congress—and the creation of the DICT remain high on the agenda of the upper chamber.
“We are pushing for [Timta] and, hopefully, it is one of the bills that we can have the President signed into law before June 10. We are working on this, and it’s on the final period of amendments in the Senate,” Drilon said.
The 16th Congress is set to adjourn sine die on June 11.
As for the bill creating the DICT, Drilon said he is confident that the measure will be enacted by the 16th Congress, as the period of amendments is already done.
Various government agencies involved in crafting the Timta, namely, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Finance (DOF) and various investment-promotion agencies (IPAs), have yet to meet halfway on the contentious issues in the proposed measure.
Among the chief concerns of the IPAs is the authority being given to the DOF to project incentives for the incoming year so that the information can be included in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of
Financing (BESF) of the annual government budget.
The House of Representatives have recently passed the proposed legislation in the committee level and will undergo individual amendments.
The DICT measure calls for the establishment of a separate agency that will focus on improving e-governance, increase national competitiveness, and raise broadband security. Passage of the bill was urged by foreign and local business groups early this year to improve access to and quality of broadband Internet.
Business groups said that while other Southeast Asian countries like Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have Cabinet-level agencies dealing with the ICT sector, the Philippines has yet to designate a central authority.
Meanwhile, the Senate president did not hide his frustration over the “dismal” 5.2-percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the Philippines in the first quarter of 2015.
Drilon said this should prompt the Aquino administration to “wake up” in time to steer the Philippine economy to a faster growth track to meet its full-year GDP growth target of 7 percent to 8 percent this year.
He agreed with economists who attributed the government underspending for the lackadaisical performance of Philippine economy in the January-to-March period. “The first-quarter report on GDP posting 5.2 percent is a little frustrating,” Drilon said.
He said the Executive branch should work to facilitate fund releases and ensure that approved government projects are completed on schedule.
Image credits: Alysa Salen