More benefits for the country’s close to 300,000 ecozone workers.
This was the commitment made by Manila Mayor and Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer Isko Moreno Domagoso, who on Wednesday vowed to provide additional benefits for workers in the various economic and industrial zones in the country if elected president.
According to data from the Department of Labor, there are 281,866 Filipinos employed in the different economic zones around the country.
“I’ve heard about yung mga konting request ng ating mga manggagawa sa economic zones. What additional benefits they can get from the national government in terms of tax share or from the taxes that are generated from the area,” said the 47 year-old mayor during a press conference at the Pampanga Provincial Capitol.
The Manila chief executive, who was once a laborer himself, stressed “basta ang importante lang sa akin, yung kapakinabangan ng tao, in this case, particular na sector, mga manggagawa. Kasi ang buhay nung mga pabrikang yon, o mga industriyang yon, yung mga skilled individual, which is Pilipino, na siya namang nagbibigay ng buhay sa ating ekonomiya. And I’m for jobs.”
Moreno emphasized this would benefit not only for Kapampangans, but the thousands of workers in all economic and industrial zones in the country.
“Kapag ginawa ko yon sa Pampanga, mangyayari rin yon sa Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Cagayan, sa Bataan at saan mang area na merong ganitong klaseng economic zones. So yon ang pinag-aaralan namin, what extra social services if a particular geography in the locality produces more economic returns sa national government,” he added.
According to data from the Department of Labor, there are 281,866 Filipinos employed in the different economic zones around the country. Region 3 alone accounts for 28.4% of all ecozone workers in the country, with 80,115 individuals employed in Central Luzon ecozones, the second-most in the Philippines.
The presidential aspirant said he would explore using the taxes raised by the national government from ecozones to benefit their workers.
“If my figure is correct at three and two, 2 percent goes to the local government unit and 3 percent goes to the national government. Papag-aralan namin kung papaano ko babawasan, at actually mababawasan, but to focus on a particular percent from the 3 percent na nakukuha ng national government na maibalik sa mga workers inside Clark, for example,” explained Moreno.
Under the provisions of Republic Act 7196 or the Special Economic Zone Act, five percent special tax paid by ecozone enterprises shall be distributed as follows: 3 percent to the national government; and 2 percent to the local government unit where the registered enterprise is located.