Senators give priority to RH bill
THE Senate on Monday delayed the anticipated passage of the controversial sin tax measure and instead prioritized discussions on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill upon the request of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.
Enrile’s motion to defer action on the sin tax bill was put to a vote and won the approval of the majority.
“I am making a motion for the chamber to take up
the RH bill first for me to present my amendments before we take other matters,” said Enrile.
The Senate chief asked the Senate to give him at least 20 minutes of the session time for his amendments in order to put an end to “baseless accusations” that he was delaying the passage of the RH bill.
“To put an end to all these baseless accusations by two lady senators . . . I am ready to present my amendments if the chamber will allow me,” he said.
But Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd opposed Enrile’s motion saying that the Senate was scheduled to deliberate on the sin tax bill.
“In the Senate, we have an agenda, we have the sin tax bill and the budget to be taken up and we want to discuss the RH bill,” Sotto said.
But Enrile’s motion was seconded by Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, which prompted Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada to divide the House. Enrile’s motion was approved by the Senate after 11 senators favored, while only three voted against it.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, who is the principal author of the RH bill, last week moved to tackle the measure in the Senate plenary but it did not push through after Enrile said that he was not prepared for his amendments.
Plea
Senate Committee on ways and means acting Chairman Franklin Drilon, the sponsor of the sin tax bill, asked the Senate to tackle his measure first, since they would be deliberating the proposed budget for 2013.
“I plead to my colleagues to vote for the sin tax bill because we will also be taking up the national budget on Tuesday,” he said.
Drilon earlier expressed assurance that the chamber will enact the tax measure, which was certified urgent by President Benigno Aquino 3rd.
As a result, Enrile presented his amendments to the RH bill and promised to present 17 amendments. Due to lack of time, he requested for the continuance of his amendments on Tuesday.
At the House of Representatives, lawmakers said that they would not oppose the sin tax version of Drilon, which projects government revenues of P40 to P45 billion.
Rep. Isidro Ungab of Davao City, chairman of the House committee on ways and means, expressed such sentiments on the day that the Senate was expected to vote to hike taxes for tobacco and liquor products starting next year.
“Senator Franklin Drilon’s proposal aiming for a P40 billion to P45 billion additional excise tax revenue collection on the proposed sin tax reform bill’s first year of implementation, which is higher than the House target of P31.3 billion, is workable. It’s acceptable since this is in line with the health and revenue objectives of the government,” Ungab, who will be one of the representatives of the House in the bicameral conference committee, pointed out.
Once the Senate has passed its version contained in Senate Bill 3299, a bicameral body will be convened to reconcile its differences with House Bill 5727.
“I will be amenable to whatever is the best measure that Congress can pass that will truly address the health concerns of the youth, the women and the poor sectors of our society. The excise tax on cigarettes can be a good measure to control smoking and excessive drinking,” Ungab added.
Moreover, Ungab is convinced that the sin tax measure will be passed into law by December if the Senate can muster approval of the sin tax measure this week.
IMF tool
Militants, meanwhile, have a different view on Drilon’s version. According to them, the Senate version of the bill was made on the dictates of the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) whose managing director, Christine Lagarde, visited the country recently.
Members of the Peoples Coalition Against Regressive Taxation (PCart) marched once again to the Senate to press for the total scrapping of the “anti-worker, anti-poor” sin tax bill also on Monday.
Despite of the certification of urgency of the sin tax bill by President Aquino and the support of the IMF chief, the militant group remained steadfast in its position that the sin tax bill must be not be enacted into law because of the economic misery it shall bring about on the millions of Filipino workers, farmers and their families.
The militants branded Senator Drilon as the IMF’s tool to further the interests of the cigarette importers, which are poised to dump their surplus tobacco leaves in the Philippines and profit from the Philippine market without generating any jobs and will eventually kill local industries.
Secretary General Gie Relova of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino in the National Capital Region and Rizal chapter said that Drilon’s “sinful pursuit of the sin tax measure symbolically tenders his resignation as Senator in the Philippine Senate and in exchange has acquired the position as the IMF’s new pet in the Philippines.”
“If he prefers to work for their interests, then he should resign at once. For sure, the Filipino people, specially the Filipino workers would me more than happy to give him away,” he said.
The BMP strongly warned other senators, especially those eyeing for reelection that if they pursue regressive taxation measures and other anti- people legislation, they too will be subjected to a nationwide negative campaign in the coming elections.
“The recent reports on the increase of unemployed and underemployed Filipinos shall continue to rise once the sin tax is enacted into law. The perennial problem of joblessness shall only be exacerbated by a law designed to wreck local industries while multinational firms reap profits without hiring even a single worker,” Relova added.
Pcart also lambasted the IMF official for interfering and making irresponsible statements by supporting the sin tax bill and also proposing a “text” tax.
“These foreigners interfering in our country’s internal matters should not be allowed to circulate statements since these issues do not concern them one bit. To make matters worst, the issue of which they are meddling with have longterm damaging consequences on us. We really find it upsetting and offensive that these foreigners are so enthusiastic to reap profits out of our miseries and misfortunes.” Relova said.
In the wake of Lagarde’s proposal, Ungab said that the passage of the sin tax measure should take precedence.
The lawmaker noted that the sin tax on tobacco and alcohol products should be prioritized at this point as this would have a direct impact on the health of Filipinos.
“It is better that we concentrate our efforts now in passing the sin tax bill because there is a big possibility that the 15th Congress can pass this measure and significantly contribute to the health reforms agenda of the government,” Ungab pointed out.
Deadline
Ungab said that the sin tax measure’s early passage is in line with the deadline imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the Philippines to act on a WTO ruling requiring the Philippine government to make corrective measures as to the excise taxes on distilled spirits which the WTO identified as discriminating against imported products.
The WTO dispute settlement body’s ruling requires the country to amend the excise tax law on distilled spirits, as provided in Section 141 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, on or before March 2013.