MANILA – The depreciation of the peso is not favorable for Filipinos, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said recently, disputing the statement of economic managers.
The peso has hovered at the 53 level against the dollar, its lowest level in 12 years, as the growth in imports outpaced exports.
Policymakers have said a weak peso is “net positive” for the Philippines as this would pad the value of dollar remittances from overseas Filipinos, increasing the spending power of their families back home.
“You’re incentivizing more OFWs, so on and so forth. Our economic managers are saying that the weakened peso will improve exports, it never did. So I don’t think that this is good policy. In fact, I think it increases prices,” Recto, a former economic planning minister, told reporters.
A weak peso is expected to increase utility costs, some business leaders have said. Officials also acknowledged that a weak peso would also make the importation of capital goods more expensive.
Recto also said he was in favor of some aspects of the tax reform law, including reducing income taxes, but was against other provisions like raising fuel taxes.
“Addressing fiscal concerns of government is thinking long-term. I may not necessarily agree with everything in the TRAIN Law. Reducing income taxes, I’m in favor of that, we did that with the TRAIN law. Increasing tax in fuel, which exacerbates inflation, I’m against,” he said.
Recto was the proponent of the expanded value added tax or e-VAT in 2005, which some analysts said cost him his re-election bid in the Senate 2 years after.
The senator also urged the administration to draw long-term plans to address the country’s problems, particularly the growing population.
“We should be thinking 10, 20, 30 years ahead. And we know the population is gonna get much, much bigger,” he added.
He warned that bad policies can do more damage than officials’ controversial remarks.
“Bad policies wreck more havoc than blasphemy. What is essential is invisible to the trolls,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte was recently accused of blasphemy by some religious groups after his remark calling God “stupid.” (ABS-CB News)
