All in the name of the economy ;)
" President Gloria Arroyo is caught in a fix. At a time when her popularity ratings are slipping, a runaway fiscal deficit is making it necessary for her to impose a tax on SMS - the most popular means of communication.
This man in Manila reading a text message will be one of millions hit by tax on SMS, the nation's most popular form of communication. Her supporters believe it could even hurt her chances of getting re-elected for a six-year term in 2004 as previous attempts to tax SMS have triggered public outrage that forced the government to back down. An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team that visited Manila recently proposed the tax on text messages as a way of partly mending the country's fiscal problems.
The budget deficit has already breached this year's target of 130 billion pesos (S$4.3 billion) and is expected to reach 223 billion pesos because of low tax collections and overspending. IMF officials say the election-related spending could bust next year's target as well, which has been increased from 98 billion pesos to 202 billion pesos already. "
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