THE Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) said on Monday that the new administration must focus on public-private partnerships (PPPs) in its infrastructure program.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s infrastructure program will be challenged by much tighter fiscal constraints, which should prompt the government to resume the active pursuit of PPPs, the association said in its wish list for the new government.
The government must “rectify overly stringent” Material Adverse Government Action (MAGA) provisions that discourage PPP investment due to high regulatory and political risks, as well as honor the sanctity of contracts through good-faith adherence to PPP contract terms and decisions of international arbitration tribunals, it said.
It called for the expansion and extension of current PPPs to ensure sustainability of services and encourage current PPP partners to further invest in technical infrastructure for the long term, it added.
MAP also asked the government to draft industry roadmaps for key sectors “with the greatest strategic importance and/or potential for massive job generation.”
In the wish list, MAP also urged the government to improve its tax collection.
Mr. Marcos must “institute measures to improve tax collection efficiency, curb tax evasion, and eliminate unwarranted tax exemptions,” it said.
Improved tax administration is one of the fiscal and financial policies that MAP recommended to the Marcos administration. It also called for a “review (of) the tax regime for micro and small enterprises to help their viability and thereby expand the tax base.”
“Fiscal and financial policies must be supportive of business enterprises, especially MSMEs, to promote wider job generation,” MAP said.
MAP said the new government must move to tax profitable digital transactions that are “still outside the tax net.”
It urged the Marcos administration to properly implement the intent and letter of Executive Order No. 2, s. 2016, which operationalizes the Constitutional provisions on the right to information and restore and strengthen faith in institutions “through increased transparency in government and just and consistent prosecution of erring public servants.”
MAP also recommended reforms for the agriculture sector, encouraging the government to foster scale economies through the consolidation of management of smallholder farms, declare the completion of agrarian reform, and lift land ownership ceilings on farm land.
It must also improve food value chains through upgraded transport and logistics, increase community-level value-adding, and enable local government market matching, while addressing food waste, it added. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
