A Quezon City councilor is filing a resolution before the Quezon City Council urging Congress to amend the Expanded ValueAdded Tax (EVAT) law.
Quezon City Councilor Winston "Winnie" Castelo yesterday said he is currently mustering support from members of the Quezon City Council for his proposed resolution calling on Congress to exempt oil and power from EVAT.
Amending the EVAT law by excluding oil and power from its coverage would spare the great majority of poor Filipinos from further economic burden, Castelo said.
Castelo explained that an increase in fuel and power taxes will be detrimental to the economy as this would raise gas and electricity prices that would eventually jack up prices of basic goods.
"We all know that prices of food and other necessities are reliant on prices of gas and Meralco. If they increase, the poor will definitely carry the added economic burden," Castelo said.
The councilor said there is nothing wrong with laws that intend to generate more revenues for the government. "In the same manner," Castelo said, "it is also right to amend a law to protect the interest and welfare of the public."
"Our countrymen need not to take a bitter pill if they have options. An improvement in the EVAT law is probably what it takes to make it acceptable to everybody," Castelo said.
Mountain Province town bans hunting of birds
BAGUIO CITY — The trapping of migratory birds has been banned in the mountains of the northern Philippines amid fears they could carry a deadly strain of bird flu virus, officials said here yesterday.
The local government of Sagada, where bird-hunting is common among villagers, issued a municipal resolution banning the practice through May 2006, according to a statement issued by the provincial government here.
Migratory birds — believed to have brought bird flu from several countries — descend on Sagada in the Cordillera mountain range from as far as Europe to escape the winter there, said Sagada Mayor Roberto Baaten.
The health department and the municipal government of Sagada have launched a public awareness campaign to urge residents to stop hunting the birds, said Rovaldine Dagacan, the mayor’s executive assistant.
Municipal workers have also created checkpoints to stop bird hunters from plying their trade at night, she added. (AFP)
Mayor seeks support for 2 proposed projects
MAUBAN, Quezon — Mayor Fernando Llamas of this town asked his fellow mayors in the first district of Quezon for support on the
R9-billion Mauban International Seaport and the R4.5-billion South Coastal Road, two proposed projects which he is leading for implementation.
Llamas made the appeal during the mayors’ consultative meeting here recently where Regional Director Dominador Andres, representing Secretary Nasser Pangandaman of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) discussed, among others, coconutbased household livelihood projects for the people of this town.
He said the international seaport could generate P
10 billion in revenue a year and could provide thousand of jobs for the province. The coastal road which will run from Atimonan via this town to Real could raise more than R4 billion a year from toll. (Daniel Mangaba)
The Chinese government, Llamas said, has guaranteed the projects, the funding of which would be paid in three years.
Llamas is optimistic that the two multi-billion proposed projects, when complete, will greatly complement the coconut industry of the province.
"The two projects will help decongest Metro Manila and relieve traffic in Southern Luzon. Motorists and commuters from the Visayas and Bicol will have a traffic-free and shorter route to Manila via the Atimonan-Mauban-Real Coastal Road."
Llamas this early has been endorsed by the Liberal Party as its official candidate for congressman of the first district in the 2007 elections. (Daniel N. Mangaba)
