Not a Dole Out.

We heard it straight from the mouth of the new Secretary of Finance, Cesar Purisima - there is no intent to balance the budget, but to plug the leakages in government tax collection - as a first step to increase government revenues.

With increased revenues, the new administration will have more money to finance its infrastructure development (another key agenda of  President Aquino), education (top priority) and other projects.

Change has long been overdue and it was the cornerstone of  Noynoy Aquino's election promise which led to his victory. But as he himself admitted, change, Aquino said, can only be felt, maybe three years down the road, or even beyond the six years of his presidency.

So, to make people feel change right away, President Aquino promised in his inaugural address to eliminate "wang wang, counter flow and tong," three issues which almost every motorist has encountered in his day to day driving.  

Maybe the new administration can also implement a BIG CHANGE which every tax-paying Pinoy can feel instantly. Give tax rebate to individual tax payers, and a rebate on VAT.  

In Ontario, a province of Canada, each tax payer can apply for a rebate on the GST (government service tax) when s/he files his income tax return.

Mr. Obama did this very thing right after he won the U.S. presidential election in order to spur spending in the lethargic U.S. economy.  An average American household thus received about a thousand dollars.  Then he injected money into federal infrastructures to provide much needed employment.  

We know that the average Pinoy family is so lacking in extra cash on hand.  A tax rebate  and a VAT rebate would go a long way in plugging household deficit, and directly spur spending. And with the so-called domino effect, this rebate could produce a chain of  economic activities down the line - increase in sales and revenues for producers, sellers, transporters, merchandisers, and allied industries and an increase in hiring and employment, and so forth.

Yes, the government would have to fork out the cash.  It can look up to revenue generating agencies such as PAGCOR and borrow from the Central Bank. Yes, this added borrowing will increase its deficit but the very role of the government is to inject cash to spur the economy anyway.  

And this is ONE government spending which will directly benefit the great masses of the Filipino people - a change that can be felt immediately, and one which will go back to the coffers of the government in the form of taxes to be paid by corporations who would have benefited from the increased economic activity brought about by the ONE TIME cash injection.

It is not a dole out.  Call it a rebate or a bonus. Afterall, the Pinoys are now the Boss of P-Noy.