Mr. SHENGFU CHEN Chinese

A14 Friday, June 18, 2021

BIR misses ₧203-B target in May on new lockdowns

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) missed its P203.15-billion collection target in May as the economy slowed following the reimposition of stricter lockdown measures in National Capital Region Plus (NCR Plus).

The BIR fell short of its revenue goal by 8.93 percent, collecting only P185.01 billion, based on the final data shared by BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Arnel SD. Guballa with BusinessMirror.

The bureau’s collection target for May was its third biggest monthly goal for this year, next to P235.2 billion for April and P213 billion for November.

Despite missing its goal for May, BIR’s revenue take was still a 61.68- percent jump from P114.43 billion in the same month last year.

Guballa said BIR failed to hit its monthly target due to the “slowdown of the economy” as the government had to revert to stricter lockdown measures in NCR Plus to address the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Metro Manila and nearby provinces Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, and Bulacan were placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine from March 22 until April 11. After that, the government eased the restrictions in NCR Plus to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine from April 12 to May 14. NCR Plus was then placed under General Community Quarantine with heightened restrictions during the last two weeks of May.

From January to May this year, BIR also failed to hit its P901.94billion collection target.

The bureau’s revenue take in the five-month period settled at P874.55 billion, below its collection goal by 3 percent.

Still, this is higher by 29.8 percent than the P673.73 billion collected in the same period a year ago.

Guballa remains optimistic BIR will still be able to hit the full-year 2021 collection goal of P2.081 trillion.

Last year, BIR collected P1.95 trillion, exceeding its downscaled revenue collection target of P1.686 trillion.

The government hopes to raise more revenues this year to cover the expected higher budget deficit. The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) now projects this to reach a new record high of 1.86 trillion or 9.3 percent of the country’s GDP.

The DBCC slashed its growth projection for the Philippine economy this year to 6 to 7 percent, from its previous forecast range of 6.5 to 7.5 percent—also due to the implementation of stricter lockdown measures in NCR Plus in the second quarter.

The Philippine Statistics Authority has reported that GDP contracted 4.2 percent in the first quarter of the year, marking the economy’s fifth consecutive quarter of decline.

To achieve the lower end of government’s GDP growth target, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua has said the economy needs to grow an average of 10 percent in the next three quarters.

For next year, the DBCC also downgraded its forecast for the country’s GDP growth to 7 to 9 percent, lower than its previous projection of 8 to 10 percent.

PANDEMIC OFFERS WAY TO SOLVE DEVELOPMENT WOES IN REGION–NEDA

ASIA and the Pacific countries can recover from the pandemic through collective effort, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In his speech at the 2021 Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting session of the APEC, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said like many countries in the region, the Philippines is using the pandemic as a unique opportunity to address its development constraints.

These development constraints, the Neda Director General said, include institutional weaknesses that prevent the efficient delivery of services such as social protection and lack of financial inclusion.

“Our story is a collective effort to turn this crisis into an opportunity to correct long-standing constraints that have hindered our economies from achieving more inclusive growth,” Chua said.

“Our collective effort to share our experiences and learn from each other today will help pave the way for a stronger recovery and a more resilient region,” he added.

Financial inclusion

THE pandemic, Chua said, allowed the country to address these challenges through the National ID system. He said as of April 2021, over 36 million Filipinos have registered for a PhilSys ID.

Further, a total of 3.7 million households have also registered for a LandBank account. This means these households now have the opportunity to access social protection such as financial assistance from the government.

“Our goal is to register at least 50 million individuals and achieve 100 percent financial inclusion at the family level by the end of 2021,” Chua said.

“The Philippines’s story is not unique as many economies in the region have faced similar challenges and did their own reforms to prepare for shocks or address this present crisis,” he added.

Continued on A4

Domestic tourism’s recovery in 2023 at earliest, 2024 at worst

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is forecasting the recovery of the domestic travel sector by 2023 at the earliest, when demand returns to 90 percent of the 2019 level, and at worst, by 2024, when demand returns to the 2019 level.

In its reformulated National Tourism Development Plan for 2021-2022, the DOT also indicated under a medium or harsh scenario, partial recovery may happen in 2023, when demand returns to 70 percent of the 2019 level.

It also targeted domestic trips to grow to 75 million this year from the 43.1 million estimated for 2020, and 100 million in 2022. Both targets are under the upside or mild scenario.

Under a medium/harsh scenario, domestic trips may reach 36.5 million in 2021, and 84.8 million in 2022. Under a downside/severe scenario, domestic trips may only hit 14.1 million this year, and 18.8 million in 2022. Domestic trips in 2019, before Covid-19 wreaked havoc on the global and local tourism industry, was recorded at 109.8 million, already breaking the 89.2-million targeted for 2022, in the earlier NTDP 2016-2022.

Under a severe scenario, the DOT forecast the ineffective containment of Covid-19 while major destinations continue to be under strict quarantine, restricted crossborder travel due to “surges,” very weak investment appetite with hotel rooms still dedicated to Covid-19 quarantines, poor implementation of health and safety protocols along with lower travel demand due to restrictions, and air seat capacities are just 30 percent of pre-Covid levels. ready reformulated NTDP targets for 2021-2022 may yet again be revised downward. DOT Spokesman and Undersecretary for Tourism Development Benito C. Bengzon Jr. told the BusinessMirror, “We will review [the targets] with the team.”

On Wednesday, the PSA reported TDGVA falling to P973.31 billion last year, from P2.51 trillion in 2019. This is only 5.4 percent of the industry’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), a steep decline from the 12.8 percent in 2019. (See, “PSA:

Worst performance for tourism courtesy of Covid,” in the BusinessMirror, June 17, 2021.)

In a news statement, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said, “The dismal figures reflect the gargantuan challenge that the DOT and the entire tourism industry is faced today. This compels us to explore all means possible, within the imposed government restrictions, to facilitate the gradual recovery of the tourism industry.”

Revenue may reach P3B in 2022, or not…

THE DOT pins hopes of a recovery in the tourism sector on domestic travel with many overseas source markets still closed, and the Philippines’s own travel restrictions, meant to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Under the reformulated NTDP 2021-2022, the DOT also targeted revenue from domestic trips at some P2.2 trillion in 2021 and almost P3 billion in 2022 (mild scenario), P1.06 trillion in 2021 and P2.53 billion in 2022 (harsh), or P442 billion in 2021 and P603 billion in 2022 (severe). Domestic revenue was recorded at P3.14 trillion, pre-pandemic, in 2019.

For the next two years, the DOT chief stressed, the Philippines will be positioned as a “safe, fun, and competitive destination rooted in strong partnerships with communities and visitors. This will be achieved by developing and marketing portfolio of products that harness the natural and cultural endowments to benefit the present and future tourism generation.”

WALK FOR ‘FREEDOM’ A man walks his

Siberian huskies in Taytay, Rizal, on Thursday, as the government eases quarantine restrictions in the NCR bubble, with the announcement that Covid-19 cases

are “plateauing.” BERNARD TESTA

Incineration banned under our new energy policy—ADB

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has maintained that incineration will not be allowed under the new energy policy of the Manila-based multilateral development bank.

In an e-mail to BusinessMirror, ADB Energy Sector Group Chief Yongping Zhai said the policy will not allow incineration, which is defined as the uncontrolled combustion of waste and absence of pollution control technology.

However, Zhai said Waste to Energy (WTE) projects will be allowed under the new energy policy. He said these facilities should “include flue gas emissions and air pollution control residue capture and treatment complying with international standards and best international practice.”

“The energy policy will encourage integrated actions starting with waste avoidance and waste minimization, including the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) apps to encourage higher reuse, recycling, and upcycling rates,” Zhai said.

“As we move down the waste hierarchy pyramid, there are 30 activities which can be implemented to make better use of waste and reduce its impacts on our environment,” he added.

WTE projects, Zhai said, are preferred over uncontrolled combustion in landfills, combustion of plastics in industrial boilers, and dumping of waste in uncontrolled non-sanitary landfills.

Citing 2016 World Bank data, Zhai said uncontrolled non-sanitary landfills account for 93 percent of waste handling in the developing world.

He added that while certain countries including the Philippines ban incineration, the bank’s safeguards policy will be applied to projects, including on Waste-toEnergy projects.

Section 20 of the Clean Air Act of 1999 bans incineration. Incineration is defined by law as “the burning of municipal, biomedical and hazardous waste, whose process emits poisonous and toxic fumes is hereby prohibited.”

The only exceptions are “traditional small-scale method of community/neighborhood sanitation siga, traditional, agricultural, cultural, health, and food preparation and crematoria.”

The ADB, Zhai said, “does not work around local laws. We note that robust policy, regulatory and compliance frameworks are required and ADB will continue to support capacity development across waste management activities in our DMCs.”

Zhai added that, “ADB’s safeguards policy is applied to all loans and investments including Waste to Energy. Compliance with international standards is part of the safeguards process,” he added.

Meanwhile, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia Pacific in a recent briefing expressed concerns over the support extended by ADB in its Energy policy for all kinds of WTE projects.

Philippine Earth Justice Center Rose Osorio noted that such support will not help DMCs attain carbon neutrality since WTE uses incineration as a technology to process waste.