MBC bares wishlist for President Marcos’ 2nd SONA

MANILA, Philippines — As President Marcos prepares to deliver his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) next week, business group Makati Business Club (MBC) would like to hear about the enactment of legislative measures that would make it easier to pay taxes, as well as enhance the apprenticeship program.

MBC chairman Edgar Chua told reporters the enactment of the ease of paying taxes bill is among the top items in the business group’s wishlist.

The bill seeks to make paying taxes easier, especially for micro and small businesses through administrative reforms.

It forms part of the 20 priority bills identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council that should be approved by December this year.

The ease of paying taxes bill was approved on third and final reading at the House of Representatives in September last year, while the proposed measure is pending at the Senate.

Aside from the ease of paying taxes, the apprenticeship bill also forms part of the MBC’s wishlist.

“We have the apprenticeship (bill) because apprenticeship is one which will also address two things: one is enhancing the competency of our staff – of our people. And then second is it will lead to better employment opportunities for them,” Chua said.

He said the implementation of public-private partnerships (PPPs) is also included in the MBC’s wishlist.

“Given the fiscal space, the very limited fiscal space that the government has, then the PPP should really be pushed so that we don’t slow down the country. We need to continue and even expand our growth rate,” he said.

Recognizing the private sector as a valuable partner in realizing the country’s socioeconomic agenda, the government has identified PPPs as one of the modes for financing infrastructure projects.

National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said earlier, about 30 percent of the 194 infrastructure flagship projects are expected to be financed through PPPs.

As for his assessment of the first year of the Marcos administration, Chua said the appointment of officials who are competent and with proven integrity, especially in the economic team, gives the business sector confidence moving forward.

“I think the President has also been able to successfully advertise the country as a place to do business. I’ve been talking to a number of ambassadors and they have been impressed by the President. So that means that we can expect these ambassadors to be fully supportive of bringing in investments to the country,” he said.

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual earlier said, investment missions of the Philippine government in the past months have generated P3.5 trillion worth of investment leads from Singapore, Indonesia, US, Japan, China, Thailand and Europe.

Chua said more investments are needed to create jobs in the country.