By Ramon L. Tomeldan, Guest columnist
Amid swirling rumors about Finance Secretary Ben Diokno being booted out last week came these energizing developments on the economic front that would make his bashers change their mind.
The rumor mill began to grind after several farmer-dealers did not like Diokno’s position on price cap and the name of Rep. Ralph Recto cropped up as successor.
Better drop the Diokno-ouster yarn because a common thread ran through this positive turn of events: the taxman and the national coffers. And we all know that as Finance czar, Diokno’s turf involves taxes and everything related to taxation. Not to pollute the Christmas air, this Diokno-ouster talk may be unfounded, unlike the heightened optimism brought on by the following solid-as-titanium news: 1, employment rate at its highest since18 years ago; 2, inflation rate slowing down to a 20-month low; 3, passage of the revenue-generating Internet Transactions Act, and; 4, approval of a $200-million ADB loan in support of the PH bid to spur future growth via infrastructure build-up.
What is also certain is that taxation has a biblical basis in “tithing”. Among the Catholics of yore, “tithing was equivalent to 10 percent but not anymore in these days of voluntary donation. The Romans, even before Christ was born, finetuned the practice of taxation. Which brings to mind the Beatles’ 1966 hit song by George Harrison: “Let me tell you how it will be/There’s one for you, 19 for me/Cause I’m the taxman/Yeah, I’m the taxman…”
Like it or not, the taxman will come knocking at your door sooner or later.
In fact, there are workers whose salaries are automatically deducted by their employers in favor of the BIR under the withholding tax payment scheme. These are what you may call as “captive taxpayers”.
Meanwhile, Diokno appears to have cemented his position with these bright spots on the economy.
More jobs, bigger income; BIR fattens up
On a more sober note, the Philippine Statistics Agency reported delightful results of its October Labor Force Survey showing the employment rate at 95.8 percent. This came as the highest recorded level since April 2005, or 18 years ago, says Dennis Mapa, national statistician.
The jobs rate translated into 47.80 million employed persons 15 years old and over as of Oct. 2023 compared with 47. 06 million in Oct. 2022, according to Mapa, who’s also the civil registrar general.
Conversely, the unemployed accounted for 4.2 % or 2.09 million in October 2023, lower than the 4.5% posted in Oct. 2022.
An employed individual worked an average of 41.2 hours each week, higher than the 40.2 hours per week in Oct, 2022, Mapa said.
Workers in the services sector dominated the labor market with a share of 60.1 percent to the total employed persons of 47.80 million. The agriculture and industry sectors accounted for 22.2 percent and 17.8 percent of the employed persons, respectively.
Wage and salary workers had the largest share of employed persons with 63.1 percent of the total for the period in review. This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 27.8 percent and unpaid family workers at 6.5 percent, the PSA said.
A record-high job rate is something that you can’t sneeze at. The workforce and the tax-paying employers have their hands full. It’s also good for the BIR.
By the numbers: PSA treat
Completing its “double Dutch treat”, the PSA followed through the jobs survey with the release of the inflation rate that filtered out as another milepost.
At 4.1 percent in November, inflation rate slowed to a 20-month low from 4.9 percent in October. Main reason was the decline in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, PSA said.
The downtrend in the overall inflation resulted from the lower year-on-year growth rate of the heavyweights — food and non-alcoholic beverages—or, items that count most in the inflation basket of basic commodities.
This was followed by transport with 0.8 percent annual decrease from 1.0 percent annual growth in October 2023, Mapa said. The restaurants and accommodation services index with a slower inflation rate of 5.6 percent in November 2023 from 6.3 percent in the previous month also contributed to the sliding overall inflation. We say “double dutch treat” in the sense that both government and consumers did their bit to produce the desired outcome. Therefore, chalk up one more “star” for the economic managers.
By the way, the PSA did not include the consumer price index in details. It would have shown the real price picture, whether or not the cost of living declined or went up.
Are we in a situation that economists describe as “shrinkflation” where you will need to fork out more pesos to buy fewer goods? Just asking.
Another landmark law
The passage of the Internet Transactions Act (RA 1196) has set the stage for the creation of an e-commerce bureau which will monitor and track consumer complaints against online trading platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, Zalora, Grab among others.
The bureau, to be placed under the Department of Trade and Industry, is designed to have regulatory powers and authority to issue compliance orders against violators, subpoena, the take down order of websites, including the blacklisting of online businesses.
Liabilities of online merchants, e-retailers, e-marketplaces and digital platforms aew also in the works, including penalties for violators.
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual described the ITA as a “landmark measure as it comes at a time when online selling and buying is now our way of life.”
On Wednesday last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the ITA, drawing the support of several private sector groups including the Philippine Retailers’ Association and the online traders such as Zalora, Lazada and Shopee.
Bankrolling infra: ADB vote of confidence
Early this week, the Asian Development Bank kicked in a $200-million loan in what could be described as a renewed “vote of confidence” for the Marcos administration.
ADB said the loan was meant to jumpstart Philippine preparations for climate-resilient, low-carbon infrastructure that would improve access to jobs and public services such as education and health care.
Target beneficiaries were the departments of Transportation and of Public Works and Highways which were expected to carry out large and complex infrastructure projects. A $1.5 million technical assistance grant will support the strengthening of regulations and policies and enhance investment planning for low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure, and the development of frameworks and methodologies to consistently identify and mitigate climate risks in infrastructure projects.
“The Philippines has raised its public infrastructure spending in recent years to steer the economy toward a sustainable, high-growth path,” said ADB Senior Transport Specialist Daisuke Mizusawa. “With this additional financing, we aim to help the government scale up the scope of its investments, further improve the readiness and quality of public infrastructure projects, and strengthen public investment management systems,” the ADB executive said.
The latest ADB loan came as the second additional financing for the “Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility “intended to help speed up project implementation through feasibility studies and detailed engineering design that incorporates climate-resilient features.
*** (The author is a freelance journalist with varied interests ranging from business, politics, agriculture, cars and any other newsworthy items under the sun.)
