No. 94 - 6 September 2004

The President's Legislative Agenda

In the next six years, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo says she will focus on the following key programs: job creation and economic growth, energy independence and savings, social justice and basic needs, education improvement and youth opportunity, and an anti-corruption campaign.

The President wants to wipe out the country’s fiscal deficit by running after tax cheats and by raising P80 billion in new revenues through new tax measures while at the same time expanding government services and cutting costs.

President Arroyo asked Congress to approve a bill on the privatization of the National Power Corporation (Napocor) to achieve sufficient energy. The government will also give special focus on the poor by providing them jobs, implementing land reform, and providing clean water, medicine, as well as electricity. Finally, the President also asked Congress to qualify farmland as bank collateral and to reform the urban land titling system.

To improve education, Congress is requested to legislate an extra year of studies, standardizing what is taught in barangay day care centers. The President wants more focus on technical and vocational education and to strengthen English, Science and Technology, and love of country.

The President has asked legislators to pass a bill enabling the Office of the Ombudsman to be as effective as Hong Kong’s Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC). On the administrative side, she promised to simplify procedures and eliminate fixers in the bureaucracy. Her first move will be to abolish at least 30 government agencies. She wants Congress to pass a law on government re-engineering. Congress is also expected to take up resolutions next year on the shift to a parliamentary form of government.

In recent meetings of the Legislative Executive Development Council (LEDAC), Cabinet officials discussed some proposals to address the programs of the President:

Land reform

One component of the social justice agenda is land tenure legislation. The first proposal is to provide farmers broader access to credit by allowing Certificate of Land Ownership Awards issued under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program to be accepted by financial institutions as loan collateral.

The second component is the National Land Use Policy Act. This bill provides for the establishment of crucial priorities for land use, especially areas to be protected for ecological purposes and areas to be developed and protected from conversion to ensure food security.

The third component seeks to create a Land Administration Reform Act (LARA) that will be responsible for land administration and public land management, particularly in surveying, mapping, classification and disposition of alienable lands of the public domain and patrimonial lands; registration of titles; and resources information generation and management.

Health support

The health sector agenda includes the Health Sector Reform Implementation Act. It intends to provide incentives for programs that implement reforms in the areas of health financing, hospital systems, local health systems, public health and regulations.

Another proposal is a bill on Hospital Corporatization which seeks to convert fiscally and technically viable national government hospitals into corporate entities. The goal is to promote autonomy and assure quality services by these hospitals. Government funds that will be freed from corporatization will be used for preventive public health programs.

There is also a proposal to amend the Bureau of Food and Drugs Law (RA 3720) to fill the gaps in the DOH-BFAD regulatory mandates. Its sanctioning powers will be strengthened against detrimental practices. BFAD will be granted the quasi-judicial power to impose sanctions in case of violations.

Financial sector restructuring

To reduce the fiscal deficit, Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong has proposed eight revenue measures: 1) gross income tax for corporations; 2) indexation of excise taxes on sin products (e.g. tobacco and liquor); 3) excise tax increase on petroleum products; 4) rationalize fiscal incentives; 5) general tax amnesty with submission of Statement of Assets and Liabilities; 6) lateral attrition system; 7) franchise tax on telecommunications to replace the value-added tax; and 8) two-step increase in the VAT rate.

Of these bills, Congress intends to prioritize the tax amnesty with SAL, indexation of excise taxes on sin products, rationalization of fiscal incentives, and increasing taxes on petroleum products. The chairmen of the Ways and Means Committee of both chambers are expected to harmonize their versions of the bills for fast approval.

Secretary Amatong also noted the importance of reforming the financial sector. To achieve this, she proposes to amend the BSP Charter to strengthen its supervisory capacity and amend the Corporation Code to include stronger provision on governance. Furthermore, she proposes to establish a Central Credit Information Bureau and domestic credit rating agencies. She also suggests the enactment of the Corporate Recovery Act, Pre-Need Code, Personal Equity Retirement Account Act, Lending Investors Act, and the Revised Investment Company Act.

Anti-corruption

Presidential Chief of Staff Rigoberto Tiglao proposed two models similar to Hong Kong’s ICAC for the Philippines. The first is to amend the Ombudsman Law to strengthen and expand its investigation or case build-up unit. The second is to ask Congress to create an entirely new institution patterned after ICAC to focus only on case build-up, prevention, and education.

He has proposed amending the Ombudsman Law to allow the Office of the Ombudsman to hire private prosecutors to litigate before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court; require the attachment of the income tax returns in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities of all public officials and state employees; enact the Whistleblower’s Protection Act; and require the waiver of secrecy of bank deposits of officials charged with corruption after the Ombudsman finds probable cause.

Although the administration party has majority control of Congress, there is still no assurance that the proposals will be approved soon.

LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR
13th Congress—First Regular Session