{"id":176016,"date":"2018-08-10T03:05:26","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T07:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=176016"},"modified":"2018-08-10T03:05:26","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T07:05:26","slug":"solon-urges-govt-hasten-bbb-tariffs-rice-combat-inflation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/08\/10\/solon-urges-govt-hasten-bbb-tariffs-rice-combat-inflation\/","title":{"rendered":"Solon urges gov\u2019t to hasten BBB, tariffs on rice to combat inflation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hontiveros said administration of President Rodrigo Duterte could speed up the implementation of big infrastructure projects under its flagship Build, Build, Build program. (PNA File Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA \u2013 Senator Risa Hontiveros on Friday offered several recommendations that the Duterte administration could undertake to help the public meet the challenges of a slower-than-expected economic growth and high inflation.<\/p>\n

Hontiveros said administration of President Rodrigo Duterte could speed up the implementation of big infrastructure projects under its flagship Build, Build, Build program.<\/p>\n

The Duterte administration will spend PHP9 trillion on its massive infrastructure program which is expected to generate about 1.1 million new jobs every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere must be \u2018speed, speed, speed\u2019 in the government’s Build, Build, Build program, even as we judiciously scrutinize the loans that were acquired for the said big-ticket infrastructure projects,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The senator added that the hiring of Filipino workers should also be a priority in the project implementation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith trillions of pesos worth of infrastructure projects, they can create thousands of direct and indirect jobs,\u201d Hontiveros said.<\/p>\n

The lawmaker also expressed support to government plans to impose tariffs on imported rice.<\/p>\n

Echoing statements from the country\u2019s economic managers, Hotiveros said a shift in rice policy from quantitative restrictions to tariffs, along with timely importation to boost stock inventory, would help bring down the price of rice.<\/p>\n

Government officials have pointed out that the high price of rice, brought about by a dwindling supply, has a major impact on inflation.<\/p>\n

Rice takes up a large chunk of the food budget of poor families and the price of rice accounts for 25 percent to 35 percent of the consumption basket.<\/p>\n

\u201cLowering the price of rice has to be the priority of policy through a shift from quantitative restrictions to moderate tariffs if necessary, but certainly with more timely imports even under the present regime,\u201d Hontiveros said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis must be done while providing protection to and ensuring the competitiveness of Filipino farmers,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

She noted that the Build, Build, Build program should also give special focus on infrastructure spending in irrigation as a long-terrm solution in addressing the high cost of domestically-produced rice.<\/p>\n

Hontiveros also reiterated her call for the full implementation of the unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program as provided in the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.<\/p>\n

The UCT program, one of the social protection measures under the TRAIN law, provides cash subsidies to poor families adversely affected by the law\u2019s implementation.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment must ensure that the poorest 10 million Filipino families receive the government’s unconditional cash transfer, regardless if a family is a beneficiary of the social pension scheme for senior citizens or not,\u201d Hontiveros said.<\/p>\n

She also proposed that bigger families should be compensated to a greater extent.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Hontiveros called for the government to halt further taxes on fuels mandated by the TRAIN LAW until inflation is brought under control; implement wage increases to increase the purchasing power of workers; and lower value-added tax (VAT) from 12 percent to 10 percent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA \u2013 Senator Risa Hontiveros on Friday offered several recommendations that the Duterte administration could undertake to help the public …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":109378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-jose-cielito-reganit","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}