Transparency in handling calamity funds sought

07/15/2008

While rallying behind Malacañang’s position not to scrap the imposition of the 12 percent value added tax (VAT) on oil, a member of the majority bloc in the Senate yesterday called for transparency and full accounting of its disbursements as far as those released for the recent series of calamities is concerned.

Sen. Richard Gordon made the call as he raised the alarm over the near-depletion of the billions of pesos of calamity funds at this time of the year, when 16 to 20 more typhoons are predicted to hit the country in the months to come.

Gordon, also the concurrent chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross assisting the National Disaster Coordinating Council on the relief and rescue operations in

provinces badly hit by recent Typhoon “Frank,” noted the need of the revenues coming from the collection of VAT.

As a number of sectors have been insisting on either the suspension or scrapping of VAT, particularly the imposition on petroleum products, due to the continuing rise in the prices of oil in the world market, the senator defended the need in keeping it even at this time of financial crunch.

“I’m suggesting that VAT should be used right away in the transparent, swift manner. We should immediately provide needed funding to those designated by the government (to act) as czar on Panay (islands), Cotabato,” he told a press conference.

Gordon noted that at the rate things are going, almost 90 percent of the yearly allocation for disaster relief operations in the national budget, averaging at P15 billion, have already been used up.

To date, he claimed, some P13 billion has already been spent by the government.

“The point that I want to raise here is that, Malacañang should, at this time, review how it will prioritize the use of revenues from VAT as we are to expect a number of other typhoons.

“The debate on suspension, lifting of VAT…I think, this needs tedious study and we should be careful in considering any move on VAT because of the windfall. Clearly, we source (calamity) funds from VAT. Where will we get the needed funding if this is eventually scrapped?” he asked.

The current situation, Gordon said, requires government not only to make a full accounting but come up with appropriation for expenses that will be incurred by calamities as to infrastructure and agricultural sectors.

“And we can make good use of it to create jobs for our people. It takes about 60,000 to repair an irrigation….all of these things have a silver lining whether there’s an increase in VAT collection.

“But basically that’s where I think we should be focusing our attention right now. Again, I must reiterate the focus should not be on debates that can be handled in the Senate when the sessions open, the focus today must be on the fact that we need to rise as a nation to get together and help the many millions of our people who are suffering right now and who needs the infrastructure to get back their lives, jobs, not patronage and doleouts,” he said.

Angie M. Rosales

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