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By Darwin G. Amojelar Reporter
Filipino middle-income households
lose hundreds of billions of pesos owing to the rapid appreciation
of the peso, high oil prices and fiscal reforms implemented by the
Arroyo administration, a government economic adviser said Wednesday.
During the Eagle Watch forum,
Jose Clemente Salceda, Albay governor and one of President
Arroyo’s economic advisers, said middleclass income households
lost about P451 billion in 2006 because of government’s fiscal
reforms.
Salceda estimated that
middleclass families lost some P34 billion for the removal of cross
subsidy for power rates; P56 billion to National Power Corp.
tariffs; P76 billion to value-added tax; P118 billion to higher oil
prices; P39 billion to peso appreciation; and P17 billion to upward
creeping in income tax bracket, among others.
He said the Arroyo government’s
fiscal measures adopted “are meant to kill the middleclass,” not
the poor families.
Salceda said the country’s
poverty incidence went down from 24.4 percent in 2003 to 22.7
percent in 2006. “[But] 23.7 million is still a lot of poor
people,” he said.
The National Statistical
Coordination Board (NSCB) defined middle-income class as those
families who, in 2007, have total annual income ranging from
P251,283 to P2,045,280.
In terms of socio-economic
characteristics, the board said the middle-income families are those
who meet all of the following requirements: housing unit is made of
strong roof materials, and who own a house and lot, a refrigerator
and a radio.
The number of middle-income
families actually increased from 1997 to 2000, but decreased from
2000 to 2003, according to the board.
The statistical board said the
middle-income class can actually provide the necessary resources to
boost economic growth.
Salceda said the President junked
the P16-billion tax refund to individual taxpayers in the first six
brackets, or those with taxable income below P500,000.
The income-tax rebate is included
in the P75-billion stimulus package that the economic managers
agreed to put “on stand-by.”
“[The] main objective of
economic stimulus is to protect growth momentum in the domestic
economy by shoring up consumer confidence,” he said.
Salceda added that the proposed
$200 assistance to overseas Filipino workers who will bring home one
tourist was put on hold.
Other items in the stimulus
package that were put on hold include the P1.50/kilowat hour (kWh)
discount on top of existing lifeline rates to households consuming
200-kWh per month; direct discounts via Manila Water Corp. or
Maynilad billings, and identification of families consuming less
than 40 cubic meters per month at P5 cubic meter discount, among
others. 
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