By VANNE TERRAZOLA
Some senators are lukewarm over the passage of the second package of President Duterte’s tax reform program.
President Duterte, in his third State-of-the-Nation Address (SoNA) Monday, asked Senate to come up with a counterpart bill on the
Package 2 of his five-tranche comprehensive tax reform program.
Stressing its urgency, Duterte appealed to the Upper Chamber not to ignore the measure which he aimed to sign before the end of the year.
Senator Grace Poe, however, believes that the proposal should be studied carefully as this she raised concern that this may trigger further inflation, following the enactment of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.
“Gusto niyang ipasa ‘yong second TRAIN law, but pag-aralang mabuti kasi kahit papaano, nakakadagdag nga ito sa taas ng presyo ng bilihin,” Poe told reporters in an interview after the SoNA.
“Dapat ito ay magbibigay sa diskuwento sa taxes ng korporasyon. Maaaring makatulong iyon para magkaroon ng investments pero saan tayo babawi ng sources of revenue? So baka mamaya mayroong mga ibang hidden taxes na hindi natin alam na pampabigat rin sa taumbayan,” she added.
Poe urged her colleagues in Congress to review the proposed “TRAIN 2” before approving it.
“Responsibilidad namin na suriing mabuti ito. Tulungan ang Presidente sa mga bagay na sa tingin namin ay makakabuti sa ating mga kababayan,” she said.
Sen. Cynthia Villar shared Poe’s sentiment. Whether or not she would support President Duterte’s TRAIN 2 would depend on its contents.
“Depende kung anong laman. I’m not familiar with the contents of the Package 2. Alam ko ibaba ang corporate tax pero anong kapalit? Magbabawas ng incentives? Depende kung anong industry ang babawasan ng incentive,” Villar said when asked about her opinion.
Senator Riza Hontiveros also urged the Duterte government to slow down on its tax reform program as she reiterated her appeal to have implementation of TRAIN reconsidered.
“Medyo magpreno-preno muna sila, magmenor sa paglatag ng TRAIN 2 dahil there may be even reasons na i-suspend muna ‘yong second round of excise tax increases sa ilalim ng TRAIN 1,” Hontiveros said.