Vatman strikes again

Ralph Recto built his political identity around taxes — most notably the Expanded VAT law, which raised the rate from 10 percent to 12 percent and expanded it to cover fuel and electricity. That move helped boost government revenues, but it also helped bury his Senate reelection bid in 2007, a backlash many linked to the unpopular tax.

Fast forward to today and the script hasn’t changed. With inflation biting and fuel prices climbing, lawmakers are pushing to cut the VAT back to 10 percent. It’s not radical. It’s a rollback. A correction. A small break for a public that has been paying more for nearly everything — and the same public from whom nearly a trillion pesos, if not more, has been taken.

And once again, Recto says no. His argument? The government will lose revenues. Debt might rise. The numbers won’t work. But why is it always the public that has to adjust — never the system? Because VAT is the easiest tax to collect. It doesn’t chase billionaires. It doesn’t audit corporations. It taxes consumption, meaning it taxes everyone, especially the poor. The more you spend just to survive, the more you pay.

And Recto knows this. He helped design it. This is what makes the current standoff more than just policy — it’s personal. The same architect of the 12-percent VAT is now the gatekeeper blocking its reduction. So when Congress hesitates to even vote on lowering the VAT, the issue is no longer economics. It’s power. Because if lawmakers truly believed in independence, they would put it to a vote and let the public see where they stand. Instead, we get silence. Delay. Deference. Recto warns of lost revenue. But what about lost trust?

— Jason Mago

The next Gen Z crisis

Gen Z has grown up in crisis. The 2008 financial crash. The pandemic. Wars. Now an oil crisis that keeps pushing prices up while wages stay the same. Jobs are harder to find. Housing feels out of reach. Even basic goods are no longer basic.

And yet, something bigger is coming.

Water.

A January 2026 World Economic Forum report shows that the AI economy already consumes 23 cubic kilometers of water each year. By 2050, that number is expected to more than double to 54. That means an additional 31 cubic kilometers of water just to keep AI running, enough to supply every person on earth with thousands more liters annually.

Data centers require vast amounts of water to cool their massive energy use and Big Tech is building more of them.

By 2030, global water demand could exceed supply by 40 percent. The World Bank estimates that four billion people already live in water-scarce areas.

We keep talking about oil. About traffic. About energy. But the next crisis is simpler. Not how we move, but what we drink.

If this continues, transportation will not be the problem. Thirst will be. — Carl Magadia

Horsin’ around

Marcos 2.0 suspended the excise tax on LPG and kerosene on Tuesday — a cushion decided late and far from the timely intervention an energy shock demands.

In the Philippines, anything that requires legislation and presidential approval moves slowly. What we need is leadership that acts with speed and urgency.

Politics here often feels preoccupied with the wrong priorities: law enforcement attention on a shirtless man seen mixing cement, while the Palace appears more concerned with responding to narratives like cancer-related campaign talk against Bongbong.

The Palace does have concrete and strong rebuttals to misinformation against the President and pushes back on criticism against VP Sara, but meanwhile lacks a clear concise explanation of what the Marcos administration’s next steps are in cushioning an ongoing oil and energy crisis.

Instead of directly providing relief for rising energy and electricity costs, Marcos is seen in his fitness era — jumping jacks, Strava-like runs outside the Palace, and just yesterday lifting a sack of rice, emphasizing his strength and vitality.