Wait-and-see numbers game
With so much speculation on what the impact of the first of four proposed tax reform packages under the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program would bring us all, the wait-and-see now starts after the President enabled the proposed taxes into law last Tuesday.
The big question is just how big of a burden the new consumption taxes will have on majority of Filipinos, and will there really be inclusive growth for them in the near future when all the new money collected by government would have gone to paying for more roads, bridges, airports, seaports and other vital infrastructure.
For sure, those who earn P250,000 a year will be affected by the new petroleum, sugar, automotive and coal taxes even if they would benefit from exemptions on their annual taxable income, 13th month pay and other bonuses.
So, while we can still greet each other a truly sincere Merry Christmas, let’s do so. Next year might not be so merry after all.
One of the new issues that I had started to tackle in my column this year was the lording of trolls on social media. It would be unacceptable to call them journalists, and yet, some of them actually do hide under the pretext of being so.
Thus, it was a pleasant surprise to read a news item about Pope Francis reminding about 350 members of the Italian Periodical Press Union and the Italian Federation of Catholic Weeklies last week of what role journalism must play in the new realities of global communications.
The transcribed version of the Holy See’s speech is still not available, but I’m relying on the excerpts published by the other official reporting agencies of the Catholic Church, particularly the Catholic News Agency. Following are parts lifted from their website.
The Pope said that journalism must prize truth and reflection over sensationalism and clamor. “It is important that the criteria of judgment and information are offered patiently and methodically so that public opinion is able to understand and discern, and is not stunned and disoriented,” the Pope said Dec. 16, according to Vatican News.
The Pope encouraged journalism that embodies “serenity, precision and completeness.” It must use calm language that favors “fruitful reflection” and thoughtful, clear words that reject “clamorous and ambiguous speech.”
“Your free and responsible voice is fundamental for the growth of any society that wants to be called democratic so that a continuous exchange of ideas and a profitable debate based on real and correctly reported facts are assured,” the pontiff told them.
He noted the dominance of speed and sensationalism in some reporting, which lacks precision and thoroughness. It is dominated by overheated emotions, not thoughtful reflection.
The Pontiff stressed the need for reliable information, verified data and news that does not aim to amaze and excite. Rather, it creates in readers a healthy critical sense that allows them to ask appropriate questions and make justified conclusions.
“There is no need to fall into the ‘sins of communications’: misinformation, that is saying only a part which is calumny and which is sensational, or defamation that seeks out things past and old and bringing them to light today,” said Pope Francis. “They are very grave sins that damage the heart of the journalist and damage the people.”
With Christmas still four days away, the Pope’s annual Christmas message has not been released. However, he gave three simple attitudes that can help prepare us to welcome Jesus Christ. Again, excerpts below were from the Catholic News Agency since the English text was still not available.
“Saint Paul invites us to prepare for the coming of the Lord by assuming three attitudes: constant joy, persevering prayer and continual thanksgiving,” the Pope said. “Joy, prayer and gratitude are three attitudes that prepare us to live Christmas in an authentic way.”
The Pope cited St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, “always be happy.”
“That is to say, always remain in joy, even when things do not go according to our desires,” Francis explained. “Anxieties, difficulties and sufferings permeate our lives, and so many times the reality around us seems to be inhospitable and arid, like the desert in which the voice of John the Baptist resounded, as the Gospel of today recalls.”
Unceasing prayer helps us enter into a relationship with God, the source of true joy.
“The joy of Christians comes from faith and from the encounter with Jesus Christ, the reason for our happiness,” the Pope continued. “The more we are rooted in Christ, the more we find inner serenity, even in the midst of everyday contradictions.”
St. Paul also stressed “the grateful love of God,” his generosity, mercy, patience and goodness. Christians are to be “living in an endless state of thanksgiving.”
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