ROXAS TO GOV'T: PUT PEOPLE FIRST WITH VAT SUSPENSION
BETTER TAX COLLECTION NEEDED TO SUSTAIN ECO GROWTH

Senator Mar Roxas said the government must work harder on increasing tax collection efficiency before shunning his proposal to suspend the value-added tax on oil products, on revenue concerns.

"First of all, the government can make the collections much more efficient. Second, why are they passing on to us the problem of their ineffectivity, their inability to perform their duty?" Roxas, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade and Commerce, said.

"They say they can't do their task and keep collecting VAT on oil products. Let's turn this equation a bit: Do your job well, give back to us our money, because we need it at this time," he added.

He said the economic conditions have improved in the past four years, and the government could deal with the revenue impact of P20 billion in suspending the VAT on petroleum products for six months.

"The sickness of the economy four years ago was fiscal crisis, and we solved this with the VAT. Now, the economy and the circumstances in the world have changed. To keep applying the same cure to a sickness that is no longer present is wrong policy. The present sickness is the very, very high cost of living, principally brought about by $100 oil per barrel," the Liberal Party President said.

"We have an economy in excess of a P5-trillion. The government's budget is P1.3 trillion. We're looking at budget equality, with no deficit this year. So P20-P30 billion is nothing in the bigger scheme of things," he added.

Roxas said the basic principle in calling for the suspension of VAT on oil products was: "This is not government's money. This is the people's money. People are going to spend this, and when they do, the government will get it back anyway. The only challenge to government is to do what it ought to do anyway, which is to be an efficient collector of the tax."

"We have here something that the government can do - remove the VAT on petroleum products. In effect, we pump P4 with each liter of diesel, P65 with each 11-kilo LPG tank, back into the economy, and give our people much needed relief," he said.