CORPORATE WATCH
It’s a clever move to present the 2018 budget to the legislature on SONA.
this year and from 2016’s actual of 6.9% ( BW earlier cited).
It can be (or should be) presumed that the 2018 budget has been fashioned by Duterte and his Cabinet on the scenario of no-martial law for the country at least within next year. But today, since May 23, martial law has been proclaimed in the whole of Mindanao with its 22 million people, because of the rebellion of the rebel Maute group allegedly assisted by international terrorists, the ISIS. The destruction to public and private property from ground combat and air strikes is massive — has the cost of rebuilding Marawi City and the loss of revenues from productive activity, at least during the 60-day martial law in the region, been factored in the 2018 national budget? Columnist Marichu Villanueva pointed out: “the P20 billion mentioned by President Duterte was just off-the-cuff estimates of funds needed to bankroll the reconstruction of war-torn Marawi City. The amount is twice as much as the P10-billion rehabilitation budget proposed by the Department of National Defense (DND) ( 06.23.2017).” The Philippine Star,
Have the lost revenue, opportunity costs, deaths, and pain in beleaguered Mindanao from the first open civil war against rebellion in the country been considered in such a seemingly innocuous document as a national budget?
President Duterte announced that he is not lifting martial law in Mindanao before his State of the Nation Address on July 24. The Supreme Court in its July 4 ruling junking contrary petitions effectively allowed the 60- day period of Duterte’s imposition of martial rule in Mindanao, which ends on July 22. Duterte said he will depend on an assessment by the military and police when and if martial law will be lifted or extended ( Business Nightly, ANC, 07.07. 2017).
It’s OK to PR at the SONA with the 2018 national budget and the “Build, build, build” P8- trillion infrastructure program promising to over- generously offset the P139.6 billion in reduced revenues under the Tax Reform Packages — but say something definite about the pall of martial law that saps the joy of peaceful living in our free and democratic Philippines.