After enjoying tax breaks, can an established church receive money from government without violating the Constitutional provision of Church-State separation? Seven Catholic bishops figured prominently in the news over the past week as they were reported by the Commission on Audit (COA) to have obtained funds from the state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during [...]
Archive for the ‘GMA’ Category
Corruption in the Philippine military
Posted: January 7, 2011 in Corruption, GMA, Maguindanao massacre, Philippine politics, Political economyThe on-going legal and extra-legal contortions regarding the ultimate fate of the plundering general Carlos Garcia (ret.) that might allow him (and his family members) off the hook induced me to share this paper. The military establishment is one of a society’s institutions that is not immune to, or may even be particularly prone to corruption. As an agency [...]
Tax reform under GMA, Part III
Posted: January 4, 2011 in GMA, Legislators, Legislatures, Philippine politics, Political economy, Political institutions, tax reform, TaxationEarly in PGMA’s full term, a new sin tax law (that again failed to index tax rates to price changes) was passed together with a reformed VAT law (which increased the VAT rate from 10% to 12% and expanded VAT coverage) and a lateral attrition law (which provided a stick-and-carrot system to spur revenue collection) [...]
Tax reform under PGMA, Part II
Posted: January 3, 2011 in GMA, Legislatures, Philippine politics, Political economy, tax reform, Taxation, UncategorizedIn her first State of the Nation Address (SONA) after the inauguration of her second term, President Arroyo asked Congress to pass some 8 tax measures designed to increase government revenues by at least P80 billion (PDI 2004a). Even as the fiscal health of government was in bad shape, none among the top government [...]
