In announcing her bid for the presidency on Wednesday, Sept. 16, Sen. Grace Poe vowed to put adequate attention on the local ICT industry, particularly on the slow Internet speed in the country.
Speaking at the Bahay ng Alumni in UP Diliman in Quezon City, Poe said she would allocate seven percent of the country’s gross domestic product for infrastructure development, particularly for the improvement of Internet service as well as roads, railways, airports, and seaports.
“Di ito dapat kasing-bagal ng mga sasakyan sa EDSA… Kung di kaya ng pribadong sektor, isusulong ko ang isang government-supported industrialization at IT plan para makalikha ng industriya,” she said.
Poe said she would also fix all classrooms and bring digital learning to all Philippine schools as a way of expanding the government’s scholarship program.
If she becomes president, Poe said she would push geo-mapping and the establishment of an Emergency Management Department to focus on national preparedness for the impacts of climate change
Poe said she will also work to lower taxes, a position contrary to that taken by the current administration, which has refused to support proposals in Congress that seek to lower income tax.
Poe said Filipinos are burdened by one of the highest tax rates in the world, and this impedes on their right to decide how to spend their hard-earned money.
“Sisikapin ko na mapababa ito… Subalit kung ibababa ang buwis, kailangang suklian natin ng tamang pagbabayad nito. Ito naman ang igagarantya ko: Lahat ng buwis na inyong ibabayad, maibabalik sa inyo sa pamamagitan ng agaran at dekalidad na serbisyo,” she said.
The senator also vowed to find ways to lower electricity rates in the Philippines and ensure sufficient power supply in Mindanao, which suffers frequent brownouts that affect the local economy.
