Senator Kiko Pangilinan has suggested the inclusion of tax deductions and private sector partnerships in the provisions of the Classroom Building Acceleration Program Act.
A former chairman of the education panel during his first term in the Senate, Pangilinan shared some of the interventions undertaken by his then-committee during the joint hearing of the basic education and local government and finance committees.
“There were interventions that we undertook to address challenges on funding. When I was sponsor of the UP Charter measure, we ensured that there was a private sector incentive to make donations that were tax deductible,” the veteran legislator said.
“For every peso donated to (the) University of the Philippines, P1.5 was deductible from the corporate income tax.”
“For every peso donated to (the) University of the Philippines, P1.5 was deductible from the corporate income tax,” the seasoned lawmaker added.
“Perhaps, the chairperson can include a similar provision in the Classroom Building Acceleration Program,” the senator suggested.
“Another intervention that can be done is to include partnerships with the private sector.”
Aside from the outright tax deductions in the corporate income tax, he furthered that another intervention that can be done is to include partnerships with the private sector.
Pangilinan cited that when he was chairperson of the education panel, they partnered with the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and allocated P400 million in public funds “to build classrooms throughout the country at half the cost”.
He also took part in questioning the integrity and quality of the classrooms that will be built under the program, seeking clarifications on how the new buildings will address the lack of restrooms in some two-, three-, and four-story classroom buildings in public schools.
Pangilinan likewise raised concerns about the completion period for constructing school buildings, comparing the costs and timeliness of government- and private-led projects.
