Duterte wants Congress to decide on TRAIN Act
Amid spiraling prices of petroleum products and prime commodities, President Duterte is leaving it up to Congress to decide on the fate of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.
“Well, the law was enacted by Congress. I’ll leave it to Congress to decide whether or not to amend or suspend or modify the law,” the President said on Saturday night.
In a speech before his departure for a three-day visit to South Korea, the President said it did not matter if he was for or against the continued implementation of the tax reform law, since the ball was in Congress’ court.
‘Build, Build, Build’
“I’ll leave it to Congress. There’s no value in giving much of what I want. Because if I say that we need it for the Build, Build, Build [infrastructure project], and they say otherwise, there’s nothing I can do,” he said in a mixture of English and Filipino.
Mr. Duterte added: “And if they say, well, we’ll just have to bite the bullet and go on, I can do nothing if that’s their decision.”
Last week, the President defended the implementation of the TRAIN Act, saying he needed the money to run the country.
Earlier, the President ordered the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) and Department of Energy (DOE) to look for ways to ease the burden on consumers.
He asked the DTI to send surveillance teams to strictly monitor the price of commodities and arrest erring traders.
The Dole was directed to study if there was a need to increase the minimum wage, while the DOE was told to look for countries that could supply cheaper fuel.
Possible repercussions
Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda said the Senate would have to make a careful study of the possible repercussions should there be a suspension of the excise tax on fuel under the TRAIN Act.
She pointed out that the government had already alloted revenues from the TRAIN Act for the increased salaries of uniformed personnel and for free education in state universities and colleges.