New taxes vs. Privatization
My former boss, both in Congress in the early 90s, and in the private firm Think Tank, Inc., now DOF Secretary Gary Teves, has been under attack by his former HS classmate and BIR Commissioner under him, Commissioner Bunag. Main rumor is that when Pres. Gloria's Team Unity Team Arroyo (TUTA) was nearly wiped out in the last Senatorial elections, she was unhappy (of course) and now attempts to come up with a "new face" in her government by replacing some officials who were deemed to be "less productive".
I don't know if Commissioner Bunag was directly sacked by the President or what, but he made some rather harsh parting shots like "to reform revenue collection agencies, start from the top incl. Sec. Teves for his command responsibility." A report from BWorld today says that Sir Gary was hurting with those and other comments by the outgoing BIR Commissioner.
Personally, I don't care about internal dynamics (or inertia) in Malacanang how they will find money to finance the bloated government, from the Executive to Legislative to LGUs and GOCCs/GFIs. My concern is that they should not ever think of inventing or creating new tax measures again. Improve revenue collection of existing tax laws, fine. Simplify and remove redundant tax measures that complicate the business environment, much finer.
But how I wish to hear and read that Malacanang will privatize many of those GOCCs and GFIs, whether "good or bad" performing financially. A big portion of the public debts, both domestic and external, mushroomed because of those GOCCs, and GFIs, starting from DBP, CBP (now BSP), PNB, NPC, NFA, LRTA, and many others. So much money that could have been used for other social services were diverted to pay the debts of those government enterprises. Or so much money that should have remained in the pockets of Filipino households have been forcibly taken away from them (ie, confiscated), to pay for the debts and liabilities of those government enterprises.
Can Sir Gary possibly push such policy to raise more money for the DOF and Malacanang without resorting to more taxes, other government charges and fees? Or is such policy option ever entertained by Malacanang and the DOF in the first place? I don't know; maybe Batman or Spiderman knows.
Nonetheless, I don't think President Gloria can afford to lose Sir Gary at this time should the latter decide to leave the government. The number of honest and useful people in her government like Sir Gary is very small, I think. I'm no fan of President Gloria, but I keep my high respect for Sir Gary. I know him personally, I've worked with him on several instances, that's why I can vouch for his integrity.
I don't know if Commissioner Bunag was directly sacked by the President or what, but he made some rather harsh parting shots like "to reform revenue collection agencies, start from the top incl. Sec. Teves for his command responsibility." A report from BWorld today says that Sir Gary was hurting with those and other comments by the outgoing BIR Commissioner.
Personally, I don't care about internal dynamics (or inertia) in Malacanang how they will find money to finance the bloated government, from the Executive to Legislative to LGUs and GOCCs/GFIs. My concern is that they should not ever think of inventing or creating new tax measures again. Improve revenue collection of existing tax laws, fine. Simplify and remove redundant tax measures that complicate the business environment, much finer.
But how I wish to hear and read that Malacanang will privatize many of those GOCCs and GFIs, whether "good or bad" performing financially. A big portion of the public debts, both domestic and external, mushroomed because of those GOCCs, and GFIs, starting from DBP, CBP (now BSP), PNB, NPC, NFA, LRTA, and many others. So much money that could have been used for other social services were diverted to pay the debts of those government enterprises. Or so much money that should have remained in the pockets of Filipino households have been forcibly taken away from them (ie, confiscated), to pay for the debts and liabilities of those government enterprises.
Can Sir Gary possibly push such policy to raise more money for the DOF and Malacanang without resorting to more taxes, other government charges and fees? Or is such policy option ever entertained by Malacanang and the DOF in the first place? I don't know; maybe Batman or Spiderman knows.
Nonetheless, I don't think President Gloria can afford to lose Sir Gary at this time should the latter decide to leave the government. The number of honest and useful people in her government like Sir Gary is very small, I think. I'm no fan of President Gloria, but I keep my high respect for Sir Gary. I know him personally, I've worked with him on several instances, that's why I can vouch for his integrity.
posted by Bienvenido Oplas Jr | 2:02 AM
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