TRAIN law’s impact on agriculture ‘underestimated’ —IBON

An independent research group on Friday lamented how the adverse effects of the newly-implemented tax reform law on the agriculture sector were being overlooked.

Peasant groups have initially assessed that increased excise taxes on fuel products would also increase costs of production for farmers and fisherfolk, said Jose Enrique "Sonny" Africa, executive director of IBON Foundation.

"Binubuo pa namin yung datos, pero sa aming panimulang tantya, underestimated yung impact ng TRAIN doon sa mga magsasaka, both sa consumption side — sa pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin — maging doon sa cost of production nila na masyadong tataas na hihigit na papahirapan ang kanilang buhay," he told reporters at a press conference in Quezon City.

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, which took effect on January 1, 2018, strips income tax from people earning P250,000 and below annually, but places higher taxes on petroleum products, automobiles, sugar-sweetened beverages, and tobacco.

Critics of the law said increased taxes would cause an upsurge in the prices of basic commodities, but the Department of Trade and Industry claimed the effect would be "minimal."

Apart from being potentially hit hard by the TRAIN law, the agriculture sector has also suffered the most from a dwindling number of workers, said Africa.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, he said the sector lost over 800,000 workers between 2016 and 2017.

The Philippines, a largely agricultural country, still has not achieved rice sufficiency and continues to import the staple food. In 2011, a senator said old farmers and unattractive wages threaten food security.

This fall in employment numbers is representative of the grim picture of joblessness IBON Foundation has long been painting, despite a seemingly cheerful pace of economic growth — 6.9 percent in the third quarter of 2017, making the Philippines one of the fastest growing economies in Asia.

4.1M unemployed

During the press conference, Africa also said 4.1 million Filipinos are unemployed, a bigger figure than the government estimate of 2.4 million.

The government pegged the unemployment rate at 5.7 percent in 2017, but IBON "re-estimates" said it was as high as 9.2 percent. Africa even claimed the Philippines saw in 2017 its biggest contraction in employment since after the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

IBON figures include those who have been discouraged from looking for work and those who have dropped out from the labor force out of a lack of job prospects. — MDM, GMA News