The Palace on Thursday, June 14, announced that the government is set to fully implement social protection programs aimed at mitigating the impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.
“Doon sa nakalipas po na miting ng Gabinete, nagkaroon po ng anunsyo ang DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development] at tsaka DOTr [Department of Transportation] tungkol po doon sa mga hakbang na ginagawa natin para maibsan ang epekto ng TRAIN,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. said in a Palace press briefing.
Secretary Roque said the DSWD will distribute in July P10 billion-worth of financial assistance to 10 million beneficiaries under the unconditional cash transfer (UCT) component of the tax reform law.
This aims to cushion the impact of TRAIN among poor Filipino households.
Furthermore, Roque said the DOTr will start distributing cash vouchers amounting to more or less P5,000 to jeepney drivers and owners under the agency’s Pantawid Pasada program also in July.
The amount of each voucher would still depend on the amount of taxes that would be collected by the government through the TRAIN law.
“Hindi pa po pinal ‘yung halaga ng voucher pero mahigit-kumulang po P5,000 kada owner ng jeepney ang maibibigay… ‘yung halaga po ay nakadepende kung magkano talaga ang makokolekta dahil po sa TRAIN,” he cited.
The Spokesperson said the DOTr is currently fixing its database of jeepney drivers and owners to determine the number of legitimate beneficiaries for the program.
“Ang pinaplantsa na lang po ay para maiwasan ‘yung karanasan natin noong nakalipas na administrasyon na pati ‘yung mga walang prangkisa at tsaka ‘yung mga hindi nagmamay-ari ng PUJ [public utility jeepneys] ay nabigyan ng subsidy,” Roque said.
“So ‘yun lang po ang pinaplantsa at handa na po silang ipamigay itong mga vouchers,” he added.
The Cabinet official then reiterated that the increase in the prices of some basic goods is not only due to the TRAIN law, adding that suspending the measure could hamper the implementation of key government projects like the free tuition policy in state universities and colleges (SUCs).
“Bagamat tumaas ang mga presyo ng bilihin, hindi po ‘yan dahil sa TRAIN. Dahil po ‘yan sa pagtaas ng presyo ng krudo at ng langis, dahil po ‘yan sa pagtaas ng presyo ng bigas, at dahil na rin po ‘yan mas maraming pera po ngayon ang taumbayang Pilipino,” Roque said.
Ph net inflow up by 43.5% in 2018
Meanwhile, Malacañang welcomed a recent report by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showing that the Philippines continues to have a strong investment performance.
According to the latest data of the Central Bank, the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) net inflows amounted to US$2.2 billion for the first quarter of 2018.
This presents a 43.5 percent increase from US$1.5 billion in the same period in 2017, Secretary Roque cited. ### PCO-Content
