Misleading the public with statistics
Misleading the public with statistics
Posted 10:48pm (Mla time) Feb 06, 2005
By Neal Cruz
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the February 7, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
THERE are a number of reasons why the people no longer trust this administration. Among them: the administration has not been forthright with information and has in fact been caught many times deliberately confusing and even misinforming the people.
For example, the government recently patted itself on the back for the gain in the exchange rate of the peso against the US dollar, making people believe that this is due to a stronger economy, the result of the measures that the administration has adopted. False.
The peso has indeed gained against the dollar in the exchange rate, but this is not because the peso has become stronger but because the dollar has become weaker. All the currencies in Asia, as well as the Euro, have appreciated in value against the dollar. Of these, the Philippine peso gained the least. While the other currencies have double-digit increases, the peso went up by a measly 3 percent. The Indonesian currency increased by 49 percent, the Euro by 59 percent, and the other currencies by a little less. In effect, the peso even lost in relation to other currencies.
But all these the Arroyo administration hid from the people, praising itself, instead, for the peso's gain on the dollar. How can you trust an administration on such an important matter?
Another example is the alleged 6.1 percent increase in the gross domestic product (GDP). Again, the administration praised itself for this alleged "feat."
But what do we really have? Only numbers on pieces of paper. Do these numbers lay more food on the tables of the poor? Does the alleged growth in GDP create more job opportunities for more people? What good is "growth" if it does not improve the people's standard of living, too?
Even assuming the statistics are correct (the Philippine government has already been caught fudging statistics in the past), the growth in GDP (this is the totality of the goods and services produced in the country) is only among the rich, but not among the poor. The growth is in the business sector-such as the telecommunications and transportation sectors that are non-productive-but not in the productive sector such as agriculture. This alleged "growth" has not benefited the common man. There has been no trickle-down effect. In other words, the rich are getting richer but the poor are getting poorer.
But the government did not impart this information to the people. It just said that the GDP has grown, as though the information would make the people feel less hungry.
Another area where the government is misleading the people is in the employment/unemployment rate. According to statistics foisted by the administration, the unemployment rate is going down. But the government is cheating in counting those who are employed and those who are not.
It categorized a person who was able to work for a few days as "employed," even if he was jobless for 360 days of the year. And it considered only those who are looking for jobs but could not find any as "unemployed." If you are not looking for a job because you have given up or have no more money for transportation, you are not included in the "unemployed" list, even if you have been jobless for the last several years.
This is how the government has increased the employment rate and reduced the hordes of jobless people. But the people do not know this hocus pocus in statistics because their government is not telling them the whole truth.
Another area where the government is deliberately misleading the people is in the value added tax (VAT). Government propagandists assure the people that basic commodities, such as rice, fish, vegetables, cooking oil, will be exempt from the VAT. But if you cook rice and vegetables or buy sardines in cans, you actually also pay VAT on them. Besides, transportation is "VATable," so anything that is transported, such as rice and fish, gets to be covered in a way by the VAT. In short, there is nothing you can eat that is not subject to VAT. So the propaganda that basic commodities are VAT-exempt is a lie.
What are really VAT-exempt are travel expenses, cosmetic surgery (breast implants, liposuction, facelifts in ordinary lingo), jewelry, among others. All these are expenses incurred by the rich, usually only to inflate their ego, to make the beautiful people even more beautiful. These unnecessary, luxurious and frivolous expenses are exempt from the VAT but the food that the poor need to keep themselves alive are not.
One reason the people are so vehemently opposed to the VAT is that the government is not showing any signs that it is cutting costs, plugging the leakages in tax collection and taxing those who can afford to pay the most. The government only wants to tax and tax.
The government propaganda to push the VAT is that it needs the tax money to balance the budget and pay for our debts. We either have to sacrifice now or we face a worse future, so goes the threat. But at the same time that it wants to squeeze the poor taxpayers of more taxes, it is not doing anything to reduce its expenses. Reducing all government allowances-intelligence, confidential, representational, travel, transportation, etc.-just by 10 percent can save enough money that already approximates the additional collection to be derived from a higher VAT.
The congressional pork barrel is clearly and admittedly a waste of tax funds and a source of corruption. Legally and morally it should be abolished, but there is no sign that the Arroyo administration will even reduce it, much less abolish it.
Posted 10:48pm (Mla time) Feb 06, 2005
By Neal Cruz
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the February 7, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
THERE are a number of reasons why the people no longer trust this administration. Among them: the administration has not been forthright with information and has in fact been caught many times deliberately confusing and even misinforming the people.
For example, the government recently patted itself on the back for the gain in the exchange rate of the peso against the US dollar, making people believe that this is due to a stronger economy, the result of the measures that the administration has adopted. False.
The peso has indeed gained against the dollar in the exchange rate, but this is not because the peso has become stronger but because the dollar has become weaker. All the currencies in Asia, as well as the Euro, have appreciated in value against the dollar. Of these, the Philippine peso gained the least. While the other currencies have double-digit increases, the peso went up by a measly 3 percent. The Indonesian currency increased by 49 percent, the Euro by 59 percent, and the other currencies by a little less. In effect, the peso even lost in relation to other currencies.
But all these the Arroyo administration hid from the people, praising itself, instead, for the peso's gain on the dollar. How can you trust an administration on such an important matter?
Another example is the alleged 6.1 percent increase in the gross domestic product (GDP). Again, the administration praised itself for this alleged "feat."
But what do we really have? Only numbers on pieces of paper. Do these numbers lay more food on the tables of the poor? Does the alleged growth in GDP create more job opportunities for more people? What good is "growth" if it does not improve the people's standard of living, too?
Even assuming the statistics are correct (the Philippine government has already been caught fudging statistics in the past), the growth in GDP (this is the totality of the goods and services produced in the country) is only among the rich, but not among the poor. The growth is in the business sector-such as the telecommunications and transportation sectors that are non-productive-but not in the productive sector such as agriculture. This alleged "growth" has not benefited the common man. There has been no trickle-down effect. In other words, the rich are getting richer but the poor are getting poorer.
But the government did not impart this information to the people. It just said that the GDP has grown, as though the information would make the people feel less hungry.
Another area where the government is misleading the people is in the employment/unemployment rate. According to statistics foisted by the administration, the unemployment rate is going down. But the government is cheating in counting those who are employed and those who are not.
It categorized a person who was able to work for a few days as "employed," even if he was jobless for 360 days of the year. And it considered only those who are looking for jobs but could not find any as "unemployed." If you are not looking for a job because you have given up or have no more money for transportation, you are not included in the "unemployed" list, even if you have been jobless for the last several years.
This is how the government has increased the employment rate and reduced the hordes of jobless people. But the people do not know this hocus pocus in statistics because their government is not telling them the whole truth.
Another area where the government is deliberately misleading the people is in the value added tax (VAT). Government propagandists assure the people that basic commodities, such as rice, fish, vegetables, cooking oil, will be exempt from the VAT. But if you cook rice and vegetables or buy sardines in cans, you actually also pay VAT on them. Besides, transportation is "VATable," so anything that is transported, such as rice and fish, gets to be covered in a way by the VAT. In short, there is nothing you can eat that is not subject to VAT. So the propaganda that basic commodities are VAT-exempt is a lie.
What are really VAT-exempt are travel expenses, cosmetic surgery (breast implants, liposuction, facelifts in ordinary lingo), jewelry, among others. All these are expenses incurred by the rich, usually only to inflate their ego, to make the beautiful people even more beautiful. These unnecessary, luxurious and frivolous expenses are exempt from the VAT but the food that the poor need to keep themselves alive are not.
One reason the people are so vehemently opposed to the VAT is that the government is not showing any signs that it is cutting costs, plugging the leakages in tax collection and taxing those who can afford to pay the most. The government only wants to tax and tax.
The government propaganda to push the VAT is that it needs the tax money to balance the budget and pay for our debts. We either have to sacrifice now or we face a worse future, so goes the threat. But at the same time that it wants to squeeze the poor taxpayers of more taxes, it is not doing anything to reduce its expenses. Reducing all government allowances-intelligence, confidential, representational, travel, transportation, etc.-just by 10 percent can save enough money that already approximates the additional collection to be derived from a higher VAT.
The congressional pork barrel is clearly and admittedly a waste of tax funds and a source of corruption. Legally and morally it should be abolished, but there is no sign that the Arroyo administration will even reduce it, much less abolish it.
posted by Dante at 12:00 AM
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