MANILA – As far as Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is concerned, increasing the budget and improving the agriculture sector is one key to solving the economic problems the country is currently facing.
“Increase the budget for agriculture,” Arroyo, an economist herself, told reporters when asked for her own suggestions on how to improve the economic growth rate.
Arroyo pointed out that when she was president, the budget for the agriculture sector was increased by 6 percent, much higher than the 1.5-percent increase in the present administration.
For Arroyo, the greatest impact of the economic problems to the Filipino people is the continuously increasing prices of basic goods due to inflation.
“Isang dahilan kung bakit nagmamahalan ang mga presyo ng pagkain mismo ay dahil nagkukulang na ang ating produksyon,” she said.
“So talagang ang masasabi ko, kung gusto talaga natin ng pangmatagalang solusyon sa problema ng inflation, ayusin natin ang agrikultura,” she added.
Arroyo, however, is hoping that the economic managers would hasten the implementation of programs to address inflation and other issues concerning the economy.
“Ang aking hiling naman sa ating mga economic managers ay – actually tama naman yung patakaran more or less – pero sana mas mabilis ang implementasyon lalo na doon sa araw-araw na problema gaya ng presyo ng mga bilihin,” she said.
At the same time, Arroyo reiterated that policies such as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) are helpful to the economy in the long run.
“Ang epekto ng mga buwis sa ekonomiya, yung magandang epekto ay sa pangmatagalan. Kung wala tayong ganun, wala tayong imprastraktura, hanggang dito na lang tayo,” she said.
“So talagang kailangan yung mga batas na ganun,” she added.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday night approved on second reading the P3.757-trillion proposed national budget for 2019.
Of this amount, P76.1 billion will be allocated for the Department of Agriculture. (GMA News)
