JDV to rich: Give up some of your wealth to ease fiscal woes

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said yesterday rich Filipinos should share the burden of lifting the country from the looming fiscal crisis and give up some of their wealth.

De Venecia urged the country’s wealthy elite to follow the example set by their counterparts in South Korea and Thailand, who donated jewelry and dollars during the height of the mid-1997 Asian financial crisis to help defend their respective currencies and prop up their reserves.

"We must all set the example of pitching in to avert the crisis, we must follow the example of South Korea and Thailand," De Venecia told reporters. "We must create a domino effect."

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, who chairs the House committee on economic affairs and is senior vice chairman of the appropriations committee, supported De Venecia’s call. Salceda said other sectors should take the cue from the government, which imposed hefty cuts in its national budget for 2005.

He said the top 10 percent of the population account for 56 percent of the country’s annual income.

Salceda said with Malacañang and Congress setting an example by imposing austerity measures, the "unfaithful spouse syndrome" has been addressed, wherein the business community no longer has reason to be suspicious of the government’s call for everyone to pitch in.

"The government is measured now (by) a higher standard with the fiscal crisis," he said.

Salceda, however, pointed out that it should not only be Malacañang and Congress that should sustain cuts, but also local government units and government-owned and controlled corporations, which have been contributing to the country’s massive debts.

The government, committed to balancing its budget by 2009, urgently needs to impose new taxes since it needs to generate at least P100 billion more in revenues every year, particularly after absorbing the National Power Corp.’s P600-billion debt.

De Venecia also announced he will call for a majority caucus on Tuesday to forge a consensus on how much will be slashed from congressmen’s pork barrel allocations.

He said the proposals in the chamber on the size of the cut range from 30 to 50 percent.

"I believe an overwhelming majority, more than 200 of the 236 lawmakers, will rise to the challenge," De Venecia said.

He said the House has long contributed to efforts to solve the fiscal crisis, noting the "first step" had been when congressmen agreed to have their priority development assistance fund and public works allocations realigned to support President Arroyo’s 10-point program of governance.

The "second step," according to De Venecia, was to have their pork barrel allocations reduced. He pointed out that the cuts would impact more on congressmen than senators.

"We have obligations and we are accountable to our constituencies who are our neighbors, we live with them," he said.