Since everyone in blogosphere is talking about the SONA, I am sharing my impression of President Arroyo's speech yesterday.
What actually struck me most was the President's claim that the government now has money to spend on infrastructure projects, especially when only a couple of years ago she announced that the country was in a fiscal crisis. According to the "2006 SONA Technical Report" prepared by the Presidential Management Staff, the Philippine government has increased its revenue collections and balanced the budget this year. It cited the following figures to support their claim:
1. P31.5 billion fiscal deficit from January to June 2006, P58.9 billion below target ceiling of P90.4 billion for the 1st semester 2006;
2. P471.1 billion revenues for the first 6 months of 2006, up by 21.1% from P389.4 billion collected last year; and,
3. Expenditures of P502.6 billion from January to June 2006 is P43.9 billion below the P546.41 billion ceiling for the first semester of the year.
I suspect that this fact (that government now has money for projects) caused the most excitement among the public officials who attended the SONA, especially with elections coming next year. For my part, I am excited most with the fact that Western Visayas will be made into a "Tourism Corridor" what with Boracay and most of the most beautiful white sand beaches located there. Tourism Secretary Ace Durano is also doing a good job at DOT what with tourist arrivals in the Philippines increasing by 10% annually, most of them visiting the Visayas region. Tourism-related businesses like resorts, restaurants, spas, etc. have never had it so good here.
What actually struck me most was the President's claim that the government now has money to spend on infrastructure projects, especially when only a couple of years ago she announced that the country was in a fiscal crisis. According to the "2006 SONA Technical Report" prepared by the Presidential Management Staff, the Philippine government has increased its revenue collections and balanced the budget this year. It cited the following figures to support their claim:
1. P31.5 billion fiscal deficit from January to June 2006, P58.9 billion below target ceiling of P90.4 billion for the 1st semester 2006;
2. P471.1 billion revenues for the first 6 months of 2006, up by 21.1% from P389.4 billion collected last year; and,
3. Expenditures of P502.6 billion from January to June 2006 is P43.9 billion below the P546.41 billion ceiling for the first semester of the year.
I suspect that this fact (that government now has money for projects) caused the most excitement among the public officials who attended the SONA, especially with elections coming next year. For my part, I am excited most with the fact that Western Visayas will be made into a "Tourism Corridor" what with Boracay and most of the most beautiful white sand beaches located there. Tourism Secretary Ace Durano is also doing a good job at DOT what with tourist arrivals in the Philippines increasing by 10% annually, most of them visiting the Visayas region. Tourism-related businesses like resorts, restaurants, spas, etc. have never had it so good here.
1 comment:
sana nga lang .... at sana rin isama sa plano ang mga sira at baku-bakong daan ano? pati na rin ang mga sirang dike para hindi na bumaha ng lampas tao pag tagbagyo
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