SONA should focus on economy; more jobs, less jabs – senators

Senators on Sunday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to put greater focus on economic issues in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) amid growing public concern over the steady rise in the prices of basic commodities during the first half of 2018.

Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon said he hopes the President would, at the very least, call on Congress to convene to review provisions of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law that saddled Filipinos with additional taxes on petroleum and other basic necessities.

“At the very least, (inaasahan namin) tawagin ang Kongreso para maupo at tingnan kung saan nagkamali para ma-address itong pagtaas ng pangunahing bilihin dahil sa tumaas ng inflation. I-convene ang Kongreso at komite para pag-aralan kung ano ang dapat gawin (we expect him to call on Congress to sit down and see what went wrong to address the inflationary effect on basic commodities. We urge him to convene Congress and the committees to study what should be done to this problem),” Drilon said in a Radio DZBB interview.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate committee on economic affairs, echoed Drilon’s call and expressed hope that the President will outline in detail the government's concrete planof-action to shield poor Filipino families from the rising prices of basic commodities, especially food.

Gatchalian stressed the urgency of implementing counter-inflation measures for the poor by revealing that the inflation rate felt by families in the bottom 30 percent in terms of income is significantly higher than the 5.2 percent headline inflation rate recorded in June.

He pointed to the official data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which showed that the June inflation rate experienced by families in the bottom 30 percent was actually as high as 5.9 percent.

“The higher inflation felt by the poor is largely driven by rising food prices because the poor (people) spend a greater percentage of their income on food,” Gatchalian explained.

According to the PSA, food and non-alcoholic beverages comprise 40 percent of the consumer price index (CPI) for the average income family. But Gatchalian said a study conducted by his office shows that food and beverages comprise more than 70 percent of the CPI of poor families, with rice alone making up 22.69 percent of the poor CPI.

Gatchalian also noted that the price of food has been steadily rising at a rate of 5.66 percent since last year, propelled by increases in the prices of rice, fish, corn, and meat.

“This is why the government's plans to help poor families put enough food on the table should be an important part of the SONA,” he said.

More jobs, less jabs Sen. Nancy Binay said “gut issues” should be the focus of the SONA and that the President should take it as an opportunity to provide solutions to issues that matter most to ordinary Filipinos.

“I hope the President focuses on addressing yung mga issue na dikit sa sikmura ng mga tao tulad ng pag-kontrol ng inflation, paglikha ng trabaho, at murang bilihin. More jobs, less jabs,” Binay said.

The senator, likewise, said that she hopes that the President would call for the suspension of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, as well as finally put an end to labor contractualization.

“Nakita po natin ang matinding panawagan ng ating mga kababayan na masuspend ang TRAIN at mahinto ang kontraktualisasyon, so sana agarang aksyunan ito ng ating Presidente, (we’ve seen the persistent calls of our people to suspend the TRAIN law and their calls to stop contractualization, so we do hope the President will take immediate action on it,)” she said.

Peace and order Apart from the President’s plans for the economy, Drilon also said he also wishes to hear the President say something on how he intends to address the growing culture of impunity and the continuing breakdown of law and order.

“Pangalawa, yung patuloy na breakdown ng law and order. Maraming pari at local officials ang target at patuloy rin ang extra-judicial killings. Mukhang may (Second is the continuing breakdown of law and order. There are priests and local officials being killed left and right and the extrajudicial killings continue. So it seems there really is a (culture of impunity),” Drilon pointed out.

“Uulitin ko lang, yung mga measures na tutugon sa kahirapan at yung peace and order situation. Yung culture of impunity na parang tuluy-tuloy na lang at walang natatakot sa batas. Iaddress iyang dalawang bagay na iyan sa SONA (Again, those measures aimed at addressing poverty and the peace and order situation are the two main things we want to hear in the SONA. And the continuing culture of impunity as if no one is afraid of the law. Those two are the primary concern we wish to hear in the SONA),” Drilon added.

Binay said the people would most probably want to hear the administration’s social and environmental policies, aside from reporting on the war against drugs and corruption.

“For those who continue to struggle in life, they no longer want more of the same war on drugs. Sa ngayon, gusto ng lahat na marinig ay ang social policies and environmental policy direction, pati na rin ang action plans ng administration sa susunod na tatlong taon,” said Binay.

Senators Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara and Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito both expressed hope that the President will also push for the passage of the Universal Healthcare bill which will allow Filipinos access to a comprehensive set of health services without having to experience financial setbacks.

Senators also want to hear from the President the status of the administration’s most touted “Build, build, build” project that seems to have been stalled.

“Personally, I’d like to hear the President talk about accomplishments, particularly reforms started by his administration. But personally I would like to hear the economic direction of the administration, status of the ‘Build Build Build’ projects, and of course (his) certification of the Universal Healthcare Program as urgent,” Ejercito said.

Angara stressed that the “Build, Build, Build” program of the government should be paired with a ‘Jobs, Jobs, Jobs’ program that will provide competitive salaries so as to address not only the unemployment and underemployment issues, but also to attract overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to return and work back home.