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THE Liberal Party (LP) presented its affirmative
action plan with priority legislative measures to boost the
country’s overall development.
LP president Franklin Drilon said
the plan had two objectives: to bring to the countryside and to the
poor the positives in the macroeconomic environment and to marshal
government revenues to develop the country’s greatest asset, the
Filipino people.
LP executive vice-president
Manuel Roxas 2nd, who laid out the party’s 7-point legislative
plan, said, “The LP agenda is people-centered, and not
politics-driven. What unites us in the Liberal Party is a common
desire to put our people first: first in reaping the benefits of an
improving economy, first in the protection of human rights, first in
agenda of the national government.”
The party’s 7-point legislative
plan is focused on the minimum-wage earners, EVAT funds, affordable
medicine, economic partnerships, making our streets safe, military
with adequate finances and modern technology and economic freedom
for farmers.
In a 2005 data, Roxas said that
2.9 million workers in the private sector alone receive minimum
wage, while 4.9 million workers receive below this.
He stressed that “minimum-wage
earners will need enough money in their pockets to match the rising
cost of living. A tax exemption will assist them.”
While it would entail forgoing
revenues of P600 million, the passage of this measure would be
outweighed by the following benefits: an indirect wage hike through
increased take-home pay, leading to additional consumption and
saving capacity by minimum-wage earners, according to Roxas.
He said this would indirectly
benefit the retail and banking system as well as lead to fewer
burdens on tax administration.
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