Nicanor “Nick” Perlas and PANGMASA Platform: Social Justice, Peace and Order, Fiscal Management, and Infrastructure Development

Social Justice, Peace and Order

Improve social justice, peace and order.

• Renegotiate the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA AD) with special provisions, among others, for adequate consultation on both Muslim and Christian sides and for clearly defining the relationship between the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) and ARMM and BJE and the national government.
• Advance Muslim concerns including, among others, the expansion of the Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA) to other regions and provinces with large Muslim populations; the appointment of non-political or neutral OMA executives and officials; the hiring of more Muslim staff in Muslim-dedicated government offices including OMA; the expedited flow of Muslim Official Development Assistance (ODA); and the availability of “hallal” slaughterhouses in cities and towns with large Muslim populations.
• Reopen negotiations with NDF/NPA communist rebels.
• Ensure that all peace negotiations with Muslim and NDF/NPA combatants are anchored on the government’s demonstrated political will towards reforming the structural roots of conflict and the pursuit of social justice, including the equitable delivery of government social services, infrastructure, and business incentives.
• Ensure the meaningful and organized participation of indigenous peoples and communities in all matters of governance affecting their interest and future.
• Strengthen the capacity and resources of the council for indigenous people and neutralize the heavy interference of traditional politicians in this council.
• Remove the high-level military and police support for criminal activities and drug trade and clean both the military and police from corrupt elements. (See program details in the Moral and Effective Governance section below.)
• Expedite the removal from public service of rogue military and police officers and personnel.
• Reinstate, to full position and honors, any military or police officer unjustly placed in detention or removed from public office.
• Professionalize the military and police forces by means of adequate incentive systems that reward moral and exemplary conduct and punish violations of law and order.
• Provide adequate comprehensive support to civil society efforts towards a holistic and comprehensive approach to peace.
• Implement and reinforce zoning laws and regulations.

Clean and Responsible Fiscal Management

Improve Fiscal Position of Government and the allocations in the National Budget to attract both domestic and foreign investments, thereby offering more employment opportunities for the poor and ensuring adequate funding for social services and lesser tax burden for the poor.

• Stop, beginning with the first 100 days and beyond, the hemorrhage of the national budget due to corruption. Involve anti-corruption focused civil society and business groups in cleaning up the most corrupt government agencies, including but not limited to the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Education, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, and others. (See also section on Moral and Effective Governance)
• Advocate for the removal of pork barrel from the national budget to ensure that tax pesos are used, not to promote transactional politics that worsen the condition of the poor, but to eradicate poverty.
• Demonstrate political will in stopping the misuse of government funds as efforts are made to improve tax collection and make it more equitable.
• Involve civil society and business corruption watch groups in procurements and bids of government projects.
• Increase the economic efficiency of government corporations (example National Food Authority) so that these do not drain the national budget.
• Improve the transparency, accountability and transparency of tax collection, expenditures and management
• Assess and improve the effectiveness of performance-based incentive schemes for greater tax collections, for example, the Lateral Attrition Law and
• Assess and improve the effectiveness of programs for improving tax collections, for example, RATES (Run After Tax Evaders)
• Introduce new performance-based incentive packages and better tax collection programs
• Make the tax rate structure friendly to the poor.
• Improve tax collections from medium and large corporations and from “sin taxes” by closing legal loopholes and stopping “creative” accounting.

Infrastructure Development

Intensify infrastructure development especially in the poorest regions of the country.

• Increase the per capita road length, the road length per area and the presence of bridges especially in economically depressed areas that badly need roads and bridges to increase the agricultural productivity of lower income groups.
• Increase the budgetary allocation for critical infrastructure as a percentage of total GDP.
• Create a favorable environment for socially responsible and ecologically sound Build-Operate-Transfer (BOP) projects especially in poorer regions, provinces, municipalities, and barangays.
• Improve and maintain existing critical roads and bridges using the Motor Vehicle Users’ Charge as appropriate.
• Ensure that toll rate increases are necessary and are done transparently and equitably.
• Install, in consultation with civil society and business, toll rates that lower the burden for mass transport and delivery vehicles for the poor and that such transport savings incurred are reflected in the lower price for transportation and food items and higher net margins for agricultural producers.
• Make transparency, accountability, eradication of corruption, and greater institutional capacity as preconditions for greater national government subsidies and increased official development assistance (ODA) in the road building projects of local government units (LGUs).
• Make LGU commitments to the UN Millennium Development Goals a precondition for national government infrastructure subsidies.
• Upgrade the quality and capacity of the nautical highway system.
• Decongest the transport system within Metro Manila by improving the quality and quantity of infrastructure and manufacturing projects in surrounding provinces and regions.
• (For energy and electricity infrastructure, see the section, Integrity of Creation, on green energy.)

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