Gatchalian: Privatization of GOCCs like PAGCOR would help gov't increase revenue

Aside from imposing new taxes to the Filipino people, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Tuesday there are other ways to generate revenue such as privatization of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) like the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

In a television interview, Gatchalian, who is expected to chair the Senate ways and means committee in the 19th Congress, explained that privatization of government assets has been "frowned upon" in the past but it can provide additional revenue to the state coffers.

"I've looked at the list of the GOCCS and a lot of GOCCs are inefficient and my concept here is that government should not be in the business of business. Government should be in the business of governance and there are so many GOCCs that can be privatized and let the private sector run it," he said in an ANC interview.

Gatchalian mentioned PAGCOR when asked to cite an example of the GOCC that can be privatized.

"I think Pagcor is a good GOCC but the private sector can unlock the value and  the potential even further and I think that is one area that the private sector can participate in," he said.

Apart from privatization, Gatchalian said the government must "simplify" the taxation of micro, small, and medium enterprises so these small business owners could pay their duties correctly.

One of the things that the government should also do to increase revenue is to eliminate corruption in collection agencies, he said.

"There [are] still a lot of corruption issues in the collection agencies. Let us eliminate that address so it would be easier for people to pay their taxes," he emphasized.

Meanwhile, the senator said he is in favor of amending and liberalizing the "restrictive" economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution but Congress should avoid political issues, such as term extensions, that would divert its attention from addressing the country's major economic problems.

"Anything that will divide the country, derail our attention that would get us out of that focus on the bigger issues we should avoid that...It is a very tumultuous situation because of the Ukraine issue, because of inflation, and we need all the attention that we can muster to address those issues," he said.

He gave the same position on the proposal in the House of Representatives to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. International Airport.

"My take on that is let's not touch it anymore because that is a very political issue and moving forward we need everyone on the same page and on the same boat and that is the call of the admin, that's the call when I joined the UniTeam. It's to have a united front on the issues and the challenges facing the country," he said.

Gatchalian emphasized that any divisive political talks would not get the Philippines anywhere.

On the issue of divorce, Gatchalian said he is against any measure that will weaken Filipino families but he is willing to study the details of the proposed measures for the dissolution of marriage.

"I support strengthening of the family. I want the family to be strong all the time and anything that will weaken the most basic unit of our society, I am not in favor of that," he said.

"However, I do admit that there are some instances that are irreconcilable and we have to look at that," he added.

Several senators, including Senators Robin Padilla, Risa Hontiveros, and Raffy Tulfo, are pushing for the divorce bill in the 19th Congress.—AOL, GMA News