Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 25) – The House of Representatives’ ways and means committee approved Monday measures establishing systems for determining tariff and tax exemption rates that will be followed by two proposed government agencies: The Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).
The panel, chaired by Albay 2nd District Joey Salceda, approved the consolidated measures seeking to establish “fair and reasonable” tariffs, rates and charges to rationalize water resource management and disaster risk reduction.
Section 30 of the bill covering provisions for the water department states that tariffs, rates and charges “will be based on and consistent with a rate-setting methodology.”
The provision noted that proposed taxation will be intended for “reasonable capital and recurrent costs of providing service,” “efficiency of service,” “incentives for enhancement of efficiency,” “equity considerations,” and “administrative simplicity.”
Meanwhile, tax provisions on the disaster resilience department seek to include the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), together with the prevailing provisions of the General Appropriations Act covering national internal revenue taxes and import duties of national and local government agencies.
The same measure amends Section 54 which seeks the grant of tax credits or tax exemptions by the Bureau of Internal Revenue upon the recommendation of the President or the department.
Section 67, on the other hand, grants exemption from taxes and import duties to “encourage members of the private sector to render aid or provide disaster assistance and/or to invest in disaster resilience and climate change adaptation measures for their residence, communities or businesses.”
Local government units may also implement tax rules which would grant disaster victims reasonable reduction, exemption, or deferment of local taxes or other types of tax assessments.
The panel also recommended that the DDR consult the Board of Investments under the Department of Trade and Industry which formulates the Investments Priorities Plan (IPP) to list areas for investments eligible for tax incentives.
Over 35 House bills on the DWR were consolidated last November 12 by the joint panel of the Committee on Government Reorganization and the Committee on Public Works and Highways.
The DWR shall be the primary national agency to implement Presidential Decree 1067, otherwise known as the Water Code of the Philippines and Republic Act 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.
The agency will be tasked with implementing a comprehensive water program for the Philippines through policy and resource reforms, ownership and utilization of water resources, construction of water resource projects such as flood control, drainage, dams and management of the waste water system.
Metro Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System, Local Water Utilities Administration, Laguna Lake Development Authority, Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and National Irrigation Administration will all serve as attached agencies to the DWR.
Meanwhile, at least 20 committee members voted in favor of the unnumbered bill on the creation of DDR last November 20.
The proposed agency will be responsible for leading, managing, and organizing “national efforts to prevent and reduce disaster risks; prepare for and respond to disasters; and recover, rehabilitate and build forward better after the destruction.”
A proposed fund scheme under the DDR raises that only 20 percent of resources will be used for quick response, while the remaining 80 percent will be allotted for climate change adaptation, disaster risk and vulnerability reduction, disaster preparedness, recovery, rehabilitation and anticipatory adaptation.
The DDR will also have a “joint operational supervision” over four major agencies: the Philippines Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the Geo-Hazard Assessment and Engineering Geology Section of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, and the Bureau of Fire Protection.
