Rejection of lower income tax proposals anti-poor – Binay

Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, standard-bearer of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), branded as anti-poor Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares’ outright rejection of the proposals

to lower income tax rates.

“As usual, this administration has once again shown that it prefers to punish the poor rather than uplift their lives. When I am president, there will be a tax cut within my first year in office,” Binay said.

When it comes to alleviating the plight of the poor, Binay said the answer is always negative.

“It is not just that laborers and millionaires paying the same tax rate. Under my leadership, I will end that,” said Binay.

Once elected president, Binay promised to scrap the income tax for workers earning 30,000 and below.

“To Ms. Henares, the solution is not more taxes. What the people need is tax relief, more jobs, more education, more healthcare, better government. There are 26 million poor Filipinos today. This administration has overseen an increase in poverty. Under a Binay presidency, that will end,” Binay said.

The opposition leader said the measure is expected to benefit at least six million workers in the private and public sectors. Soldiers, policemen, nurses, public school teachers, and government clerks are just some of those who stand to benefit from this plan.

“It is the obligation of the government to help and improve the lives of the people and not punish them,” he added.

Binay reiterated that any revenue losses from the tax cuts can be easily offset by going after smugglers. The present administration loses on a yearly basis 230 billion to the smuggling of agricultural products, 30 billion to oil products, and 12 billion to tobacco.

Potential revenue losses can also be offset by the sale of government assets and the privatization of a number of government- owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and continued improvement in tax administration and collection efficiency.

Commitment to peace Meanwhile, UNA vice-presidential bet Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II said a Binay administration is committed to pursuing peace in the blood-soaked land of Mindanao.

Honasan gave this assurance to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim and peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal Tuesday during a meeting at Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

“We are committed to a path of peace for Mindanao. A Binay administration will address the concerns of our Muslim brothers and sisters with the goal of bringing peace and security to Mindanao, with or without a BBL ( Bangsamoro Basic Law),” former soldier Honasan told the MILF central committee on behalf of Binay.

The current administration had placed all its eggs on the basket that was the BBL, but the draft law – said to be dotted with unconstitutional provisions – failed to get Congress’ nod.

“We believe that by focusing on poverty and injustice, we will be able to break the decades-long unrest in the region,” Honasan said, echoing Binay’s campaign battle cry.

Also present during the meeting were MILF’s military affairs chief of staff Sammy Al-Mansoor and vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar.

“The government must treat this simply as a matter of obligation to the people it serves. It is the government’s obligation to solve the peace and poverty issues that have delayed progress for Mindanao. This does not need to be tied to the Bangsamoro law or any other legislation,” explained the senator.

Honasan, who is being groomed to be the Binay administration’s anticrime czar, said that once the roots of unrest have been eliminated, they could focus on bringing progress to Mindanao.

“Once there is peace in Mindanao, then we can encourage investors to come in, pursue reforms and provide support for infrastructure development in the region.