By Gabriela Baron
Progressive group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) sounded alarm on Monday, July 26, over exclusion of human rights and corruption in Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA).
“Marcos finished his speech without any mention of human rights, pursuing peace, and fighting corruption. These may not be among the priorities of his government,” BAYAN said.
BAYAN added that while Marcos Jr. enumerated a list of macro-economic targets, the President “fell short of spelling out how growth targets and government projects will actually benefit the poor.”
“He mentions that food prices may continue to go up, inflation may continue to rise, but offers no real relief in the form of lower taxes and a substantial wage and salary increase,” the group said in a statement.
“How will the poor actually benefit from these targets? How will regular jobs be actually created and how will wages increase? There is also the possibility of new taxes on digital services which may again impact the poor,” it added.
BAYAN also lamented the exclusion of the Rice Tariffication Law which the group noted, “has damaged domestic agriculture.”
In 2019, farmers submitted a petition with 50,000 signatures to the House of Representatives calling to repeal the Rice Tariffication Law.
The Rice Tariffication Law removed quantitative restrictions on the volume of imported rice, imposing tariffs on rice imports instead.
The law would now allow anyone to import rice as long as 35-45% in import taxes are paid. –ag
