Category Archives: Government

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT AQUINO WANTS TO TAX FILIPINOS EVEN MORE, UP TO FORTY PERCENT

September 15, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

MANILA, Philippines ( The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Philippine President Aquino is not convinced lowering income tax rates will benefit the majority of the Filipino people, saying improving tax collection — not reducing it — has been one of his administration’s greatest accomplisments.

Aquino’s statement came after he rejected a House bill seeking to lower income tax rates in the Philippines. If approved, the government is estimated to lose at least P30 billion or $641.49 million during its first year of implementation.

“Especially with the coming 2016 election year, we need to increase, not reduce, income taxes in order to sustain the many unfinished infrastructure projects of the government. Plus we need the funds to run a successful political campaign to make sure the administration’s bet, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, becomes the next president,” he said.

The current personal income tax rate in the Philippines is 32 percent.

Aquino wants to immediatelty increase it to 40 percent.

Asked by reporter how he came up with the proposed figure, Aquino said, “It’s easier for the Bureau of Internal Revenue to deal with a round number.”

Government, International

PHILIPPINES’ VICE PRESIDENT OFFERS OFFICIAL PALACE RESIDENCE TO REFUGEE FAMILIES

September 10, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Manila's Coconut Palace — Manila’s Coconut Palace

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Pope Francis recently urged Christians across Europe to open up their homes to refugees as he revealed that the Vatican will take in two families “fleeing death” in the middle east.

Following the Pope’s example, Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay offered his official residence — the Coconut Palace — to eight refugee families from Syria. Each family will occupy one of the eight guestrooms in the palace.

The Coconut Palace, also known as Tahanang Pilipino (Filipino Home), is a mansion of the Philippine Government on the campus of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, in Manila, the Philippines. It was commissioned in 1978 by former First Lady Imelda Marcos as a government guest house. It was offered to Pope John Paul II during the Papal visit to the Philippines in 1981 but the Pope refused to stay there because it was too opulent given the level of poverty in the Philippines.

It cost 37 million Philippine pesos to build. It is owned by the government-owned and controlled corporation the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). In 2011, it became the official residence and principal workplace of the vice president.

A devout Catholic, Binay challenged President NoyNoy Aquino to do a similar humanitarian act by opening the presidential palace, Malacañang, to refugees.

“During times of calamity, the world community has come to the aid of the Filipino people,” the vice president said . “Now it is our turn to help those in need, especially the refugees from Syria.”

Shortly after making the announcement, Binay’s poll numbers in the 2016 presidential race jumped by almost double. He is now tied with Senator Grace Poe, who still has to officially declare her candidacy. Aquino’s anointed candidate, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas is still in a very distant third place in the polls.

Government, Human Interest, International

FILIPINO VICTIMS OF 2013 TYPHOON YOLANDA ASK UNITED NATIONS FOR ‘REFUGEE STATUS’

September 9, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Filipino victims of Typhoon Yolanda (2013 file photo by Reuters)

Tens of thousands of Filipinos displaced by typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013 are clamoring to be re-classified as “refugees” so that they can find permanent homes and better living conditions in Europe and other countries that have opened their borders to Syrian refugees.

Yolanda slammed Eastern Visayas on Nov. 8, 2013, leaving more than 6,000 people dead.

Back in January this year, Vice President Jejomar Binay said that a total of 205,128 houses were needed for Yolanda victims in 116 cities and municipalities. As of the end of 2014, a total of only 2,100 housing units have been completed.

Binay was chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and head of the Yolanda Resettlement Cluster before his resignation from President NoyNoy Aquino’s cabinet in June this year.

The Aquino government had said that it is targeting to finish the construction of an additional 120,000 housing units by the end of this year.

That still leaves tens of thousands more who would need roofs over their heads.

Feeling almost hopeless about their dire situation, the displaced typhoon victims have petitioned the United Nations to re-classify their status to “refugees,” saying that with the ineptitude of the Aquino government, their only hope is to find refuge elsewhere.

The governments of China, Australia, Canada and some countries within the European Union (EU) have reportedly expressed willingness to accept the Filipino “refugees.”

Ironically, the Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday announced that the Philippines is ready to take in Syrian refugees in response to the humanitarian crisis in Europe.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said the Philippines could be a temporary destination as refugees await acceptance from a host country for resettlement.