Presidential address gets mixed reactions from businessmen

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address reaped mixed reactions from local business groups. After giving a thumb’s up on President Arroyo’s strong stance on keeping the expanded value-added tax (VAT) in place, business leaders said she failed to address other important facets of the economy. “There were parts we agreed with. But on the whole, we did not see a very coherent strategy," said Makati Business Club Executive Director Alberto Lim. Lim said the MBC agrees with President Arroyo’s aim to help the poor, as well as the thrusts for self-sufficiency and balanced interests in sectors like mining. However, he said that the Chief Executive could have been more specific and substantial particularly in programs on fiscal reform, education, and infrastructure. For his part, former Capital Market Development Council chairman Melito Salazar said President Arroyo had “frills" on her speech after all as she had representatives from various sectors which were said to have benefitted from her programs. “That was cute. But I thought [the speech would focus] on the acceptance of the reality of problems that were there, and marching orders on how we are going to deal with it," Salazar said. He expressed concerns over the President’s announcement of the country’s cash position. “She is saying we have all these money. We are going to spend this. That is what worries me. We have seen how this government has spent, historically. There are infrastructure projects tainted with alleged corruption," Salazar said. While President Arroyo mentioned the contribution of micro-finance in fuelling businesses in the economy, she forgot to attribute the growth of the small industries to the private sector. - GMANews.TV