The last week of December was tragic for many families in the country. First, there were two successive tropical storms that hit Mindanao. They caused devastation and misery. Typhoon Vinta reportedly killed as many as 240 people with scores missing and rendered about 70,000 families homeless.
Also in Mindanao, a deadly fire killed at least 38 people in a mall in Davao City. Two fatal vehicular accidents also killed about 28 people in separate incidents. A jeepney with 29 people on board collided with a bus killing 20 jeepney passengers. Reports have it that the jeepney overtook another vehicle and collided with a bus in Agoo, La Union. Another passenger jeepney plunged into a deep ravine in the town of President Roxas in Cotabato killing eight passengers.
These two jeepney accidents highlight the state of affairs in the jeepney industry which the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board should reform. Were these two jeepneys sufficiently insured to cover expenses for those who were injured and killed? As these two accidents show, riding in a jeepney is a risky business no matter where. There is no protection for the passengers. If there is an accident, victims rely on the good will of the owners of the vehicles involved for assistance. No mandatory mechanism is triggered so that insurance money is the one that will take care of all expenses.
In spite of all these tragedies, the country is now busy preparing to meet the New Year. By and large, the country was able to surmount the many challenges that beset us this year. Most important is that the economic growth for this year may come close or match the GDP growth last year which was 6.9 percent. The country’s credit rating was also upgraded. The country successfully hosted the 50th Asean Summit.
In foreign relations, the drift toward Beijing continues albeit at a slower pace because of the cordial relationship between Presidents Rodrigo Duterte and Donald Trump.
One area where the President Duterte has moved dramatically is in our relationship with Japan. President Duterte has been to Japan twice and was able to secure much-needed concessional loans to finance part of the government’s infrastructure projects like the 30-km subway system in Metro Manila.
The government also successfully cleared Marawi City and killed the leaders of the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf. Overshadowing all these, however, is the issue of human rights which refuses to go away.
All the efforts of the government have so far failed to silence the critics. Only yesterday, the government acknowledged that about 16,355 deaths are still under homicide investigation. This issue of whether these killings are extrajudicial or not will not be resolved under the current administration. The resolution of this issue like so many other issues in previous administrations will have to wait. The government for one is hell-bent on pushing through with its war on drugs with all the attendant consequences, good or bad. The fact, however, that President Duterte continues to enjoy very high ratings indicate that the public seems to support his methods. It is not necessarily the right approach but still, the President seem to have the public’s support. Perhaps in the future, a credible and impartial agency can conduct an investigation that can satisfy everyone.
What the public should now be paying attention to is the coming New Year when the new taxes come into effect. This new tax regime has been billed as the greatest gift of the government to the Filipino people. Those were the words of Secretary Carlos Dominguez. The government successfully marketed the new tax package because of the P250,000 individual tax exemption from wage earners plus the P200 to 400 a month that will be given to the very poor. The new tax package will initially generate about P120 billion of new revenues in the first year and more in the succeeding years.
The social cost of this, however, will be steep. In addition to the 12-percent VAT that is already in place when we buy gasoline, P10 will eventually be added to a litter of gasoline making gasoline here very expensive if not the most expensive in the region.
The government is also projecting vehicle sales to be about a million by 2025, but already Toyota is predicting a decrease in vehicle sales by at least 10 percent. Transport costs will also skyrocket as well as prices of prime commodities.
Whether the incentives given by the government can offset the increase in prices that will bring more hardships to the poorest of the poor will remain to be seen. The projection of the government that poverty will go down to about 14 percent towards the end of the Duterte administration is too optimistic because it will take time to adjust after the abrupt increase in the prices of almost everything next year. The more realistic projection is that there will be more hardship for the very poor in the next two years and hunger will spike in the near term. As Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said, prices will go up but there are now funds to be spent for infra projects.
The public will have to wait to see if all that money goes to its intended purpose. One thing we can say about us Filipinos is that we always face hard challenges with equanimity and belief that perhaps our leaders know what is best for all of us. Trouble is, our leaders do not always know better.
Happy New Year and stay safe.