We’re building towards a future of bills
The future is charging. (Photo: JOA Group)
I’m sure we’re all tired of hearing another variation of “our economy is struggling” every week, so I’m here to offer something a little bit different. Emphasis on “a little.”
Let’s face it, our planet is dying. While the situation definitely sucks, it’s not stopping the Philippines from thinking it could be an opportunity to cash out.
The world needs help. And so does everyone else. Digital transformation continues to be more evident as a sign of the times. Sooner or later, we’ll have algorithms doing everything else for us. How do we get there? Let’s pay the Philippines first.
Trade Undersecretary Perry Rodolfo claims that the shift to sustainable technology and the pandemic-induced demand for data centers will boost investments in the mining industry.
Rodolfo said in an interview last Friday that “The Philippines is blessed when it comes to very critical minerals that are needed by everyone as we shift towards a more digitalized and greener world,”.
Now that restrictions are lifted from acquiring new mining permits in the country, the sector is in a prime position to attract profit for processing ores rather than exporting them. The demand for nickel, copper, and cobalt is steadily rising. So when you ask for a new phone this Christmas, justify it as saving both the economy and the environment.
Southeast Asian countries are actually the world’s second largest producers of nickel. The end goal is to process ores for a variety of tech such as batteries, data centers, and electric vehicles.
It helps that President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the 2022 strategic investment priority plan which helps incentivize companies who participate in environment related initiatives.
Payments set in stone
While pandemic-related restrictions continue to be eased, the construction industry is hopeful for a strong comeback. Sounds too good to be true right? Yea, it is.
Inflation is once again here to throw the fun out the window. Rising fuel costs will bump up construction prices as well. The price hikes will start to affect customer behavior. While the economy opens up to allow more construction activities, the people might not be willing to pay for it at the moment.
Claro dG. Cordero, Jr., director and head of research at Cushman & Wakefield told BusinessWorld in an email that “As construction cost further increases, it will similarly drive property prices up which may eventually disincentivize retail homebuyers (due to affordability issue) and, if left uncontrollable, may be the reason for new homeowners and developers to defer new constructions in the long-run,”.
As of May 24, year-to-date adjustments of oil prices are at a net increase of P25.55 per liter for gasoline and P29.10 per liter for diesel. In short, pain.
Given that the next administration under Marcos Jr. is planning to continue President Duterte’s ‘Build Build Build’ project, construction activities in the country are guaranteed to continue. The only question is, who’s going to pay for it? The taxpayers of course.
In case you missed it, the Department of Finance (DOF) proposed to increase taxes in order to pay off the Duterte administration’s massive debt that was incurred over the pandemic. ACT-Teachers Rep. France Castro claimed in a statement last Sunday that only P570 billion out of P5.3-trillion borrowings were used for the country’s COVID-19 response.
Castro continues to call that the next administration should disregard the proposal as it can prove to be harmful to ordinary Filipinos who are already struggling to work amidst a time of political/ global conflict, and inflated prices.
“The proposed deferment of the scheduled income tax reductions and the repeal of certain tax exemptions will be increasingly punishing to the poor and middle class who have been greatly hit by the economic crisis brought by the pandemic.”
Incoming President Marcos Jr. has yet to make any conclusive statements regarding the proposal. There’s no denying that the Philippines needs to boost its profits up or else our successors will be neck deep in debt. It’s just that it’s a very difficult pill to swallow knowing that it’ll be at the cost of our hard-earned money.
