Palace hails S&P credit-rating upgrade

One of the fundamental economic problems faced by developing countries is the
difficulty in mobilizing funds to increase investment. The level of income is often too
low to generate sufficient savings, and the domestic financial system often does a poor
job of directing those funds back into domestic capital formation. This makes access to
international capital markets an important resource for obtaining funds to raise the level
and accelerate the pace of investment and growth. In order to gain access, developing
countries must first obtain a favorable rating of their creditworthiness by one or more
credit rating agencies. A strong credit rating will play a major role in determining the
cost and availability of credit flows, and the failure to maintain a strong rating will
possibly lead to a reversal of capital flows, a disruption of the financial system and an
overall economic downturn.

Congratulations on this macro-economic milestone, Mr. Secretary. We take a moment to celebrate.

But much still need to be done on jobs generation, education, infrastructures, high cost of electricity, etc. which hinder our country’s competitiveness as an investment site.

Bad leadership caused our country’s continual decline in the last forty years. I have lost much of my idealism as a student-activist during the martial law era. I was one of the millions EDSA-1 revolutionaries who dared seize that historical moment, only to be disappointed by the subsequent lack of meaningful change. Nonetheless, I have worked here all my life, despite opportunities to leave for abroad when I was much younger.

I religiously pay my taxes. For every peso I earn, 32 centavos are withheld by the government. The remaining 68 centavos are still levied VAT and other forms of taxes. I am one of the heavily-burdened middle class who sustains our country’s fiscal requirements. The poor have no means to pay taxes. The rich have all the means to find ways not to pay.

For that kind of tax rate, other countries provide good free education, health care, infrastructure and competent public service to their residents. I continue to pray that in my lifetime, I will see the economic and social changes long-deserved by our people.

So that my children and their future children will also decide to stay here, to share their own time, talents and any treasure to our country and not somewhere else.

God bless the Philippines.