Tough and unpopular choices do the trick for PGMA in her 8th SONA

In delivering her 8th State of the Nation Address (SONA), Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) claimed that "tough" and "unpopular" decisions have shielded the nation to the impact of rising food and fuel prices.

In her 57-minute speech, she stresses that:

"Because tough choices were made, the global crisis did not catch us helpless and unprepared. Through foresight, grit and political will, we built a shield around our country that has slowed downed and softened the worst effects of the global crisis. We have the money to pay for food when there are shortages, for fuel despite price spikes."

One of the current administration's unpopular decision is the expanded value-added tax (E-VAT), which raised the consumption tax to 12% from 10%, and widen its scope to include oil and power consumption. It is aimed at addressing perennial revenue shortfalls. But with escalating oil prices, several sectors are calling for the scrapping of E-VAT on oil and power to provide some relief to rising inflation.

But at yesterday's SONA, PGMA has responded:

"If we remove the VAT, the confidence of businesses will wane and interest rates will rise, the peso will depreciate, and prices of goods will rise... If we remove the VAT on oil and electricity, we would lose Php80-billion and strip the majority of our people of the means to ride out the food and energy crises."

Also mentioned during the SONA were various issues regarding rice importation, agrarian reform, energy self-sufficiency, family planning, peace and order in Mindanao, graft and corruption, and the environment.

Lastly, PGMA announced that telecommunication firms had agreed to lower the cost of text messaging.

"Texting is a way of life. I asked the telecoms to cut the cost of messages between networks. They responded. It's now down to 50 centavos."

However, some telecommunication executives were in denial mode when interviewed by media reporters, saying that their respective companies were not influenced by the government. They said that their decision to slash text prices were brought about by competition, and that it was merely a coincidence that their promotional gimmicks fell on the day of the SONA.

Hhmmm. It's kinda you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours situation. PGMA got additional spin-off points on her dwindling public image, while the telecom firms got free nationwide advertising for their promo.