In a statement issued April, the Manila-based lender said that it expects this year's GDP to expand 3.8 percent, thanks to a recovery in the export sector and remittances sent by millions of Filipino workers overseas. But the ADB said that the Philippine government "has been investing less in social sectors and infrastructure than most of its neighbors, partly due to the tight fiscal situation, high public debt, and poor business climate."

"The major failure of the previous administration is its inability to eradicate poverty," said Arsenio Balisacan, economics professor at the University of the Philippines.

Balisacan agrees with Aquino's stance on better tax administration, and even proposed that the incoming administration should review the various tax incentives being offered to investors and if these indeed help in spurring investments.

Balisacan maintained that it's necessary to raise taxes if it's committed to reducing poverty. "Where will he (Aquino) get the money to finance social protection programs and infrastructure?" Balisacan said.

Increasing taxes is not on top of Aquino's mind. In a press briefing held shortly after his proclamation Wednesday, Aquino said that one of the first things that he will do once he assumes office July 1 is to determine the extent of the country's fiscal deficit.

But Aquino, who has a degree in economics from the Ateneo de Manila University, disagrees with some economists' proposal to raise taxes in order to narrow the deficit.

In the same press briefing, Aquino maintained that imposing new taxes "will be a last step if we have done everything and the deficit is still unmanageable."

"I firmly believe in the analogy of the pail full of holes. ( Implementing) new taxes (is like putting) more water into the pail. But it does not add to the water retained by the pail (because it' s) full of holes.

You have to plug the leaks first before you even think of imposing new hardships to Filipino taxpayers, he said.