Congress urged to boost business, infrastructure

By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter

BUSINESS groups are urging Congress to ensure that 2024 is used to pass measures boosting the ease of doing business in the country and continuing infrastructure projects vital to the faster delivery of agricultural produce.

Congress should also be resolute on approving laws that would grant more fiscal incentives that, in turn, result in a surge in investments, according to a think tank.

“I hope that the government can expand the easement of doing business and also infrastructure,” Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President George T. Barcelon told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview.

He stressed that projects being implemented, like roads, should not only adhere to what is within budget, but must bear a “satisfactory level agreement.”

“Any physical structure must guarantee a certain number of years of service,” said Mr. Barcelon.

In terms of continuity of infrastructure development, he said lawmakers must pursue measures that ensure continuity in infrastructure projects in order to lessen costs for repair and maintenance.

As a natural consequence, better infrastructure would lower the prices of agricultural commodities, he said.

“The whole cycle from farm gate, from farm to market roads, and all the logistics involved must be lower so that the end price to consumer is something that will not be too heavy burden on the consumer,” he added.

He also called for measures incentivizing companies to train their employees and make them competitive in the export market.

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr., founder of the think tank Minimal Government Thinkers, called for the removal of excise on diesel and gasoline.

“Oil products are public goods, not public bads. Expensive diesel means expensive cost of farming (tractors, harvesters, threshers, irrigation pumps), expensive cost of transporting agri products (trucks, tricycles, ships), higher food inflation,” Mr. Oplas also said via Viber.

He also pushed for the passage of laws granting more fiscal incentives to boost investments and state spending next year.

“All laws on fiscal incentives should apply to all players in each sector. A level playing field will significantly improve the investment environment,” he said, adding that new measures must have a sunset provision that would end obsolete programs.

Last month, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, Inc. urged Congress to restore the original value-added tax waiver for Philippine Economic Zone Authority locators, which was in force before the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law.

Shigeru Shimoda, president of the JCCIPI, told senators that legislators should reconsider the imposition of a sunset period for the 5% tax on gross income earned granted to the projects and activities registered prior to the enactment of the CREATE law.

The Finance and Trade and Industry departments recently approved an amendment of the CREATE law’s implementing rules and regulations, which allows transitory domestic market enterprises availing of 5% gross income tax scheme to register as VAT taxpayers.

The House Ways and Means Committee had approved the CREATE MORE (CREATE to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy) bill, which aims to introduce a streamlined refund system.

The measure would also authorize the President to grant incentive packages without the recommendation of the Fiscal Incentives Review Board.

Meanwhile, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines executive director Ebb Hinchliffe called for the speedy passage of the proposed Open Access in Data Transmission Act and the Real Property Valuation Reform bill.

He also urged Congress to approve secrecy of Bank Deposits Act amendments, the Philippine Ports Authority Charter Act amendments, Intellectual Property Act amendments and Apprenticeship Program Reform.

“The speed with which these bills may be tackled may be affected by the upcoming mid-term elections,” Mr. Hinchliffe said in a Viber chat.

For his part, China Banking Corp. chief economist Domini S. Velasquez said fast-tracking tax reforms such as those on sweetened beverages and single-use plastic could improve government funding of development programs

“To fund these spending (infrastructure, agriculture, education development programs), the executive branch and lawmakers should fast-track tax reforms that will help close the fiscal gap,” she said in a Viber message.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., in his second State of the Nation Address, sought the support of Congress for the passage new tax measures, including the single-use plastics tax measure.

In November, the House approved the proposed Single-Use Plastic Bags Tax Act, which seeks to impose an excise tax on P100 per kilogram on single-use plastic basis.

Congress will resume its regular sessions on Jan. 22, 2024. — with a report from John Victor D. Ordoñez