Coops protest tax exemption repeal

At least 2,000 members of various cooperative groups in Cebu gathered at the Fuente Osmeña Circle yesterday to protest the proposals in Congress to repeal the tax exemption of coops across the country.

The members of cooperative organizations voiced out their opposition on House Bill 4774 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Bill expected to remove 87 tax exemptions including those of cooperatives, low cost housing, lease of residential units, power transmission, domestic shipping importation, senior citizens, among others.

The 60 cooperative groups in Cebu are in solidarity with other organizations across the Visayas region that are also holding their own protest actions in the coming the days.

The groups here in Cebu have the backing of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña who sent his executive assistant for his message of support.

“I will tell you kutob sa akong mahimo, I will be vocal about this because Cebu is for everyone. Manila is not the Philippines and the Philippines is not Manila. Every island here is the Philippines. Each of you is a Filipino. Each one of you deserves your share and we are here to support that,” said Osmeña in his message.

Cebu City Mayor's Executive Assistant Bimbo Fernandez said that cooperatives are composed of poor people in the country and should not be taxed. It is a way of getting social justice for the poor.

In her speech during the demonstration this afternoon, Philippine Cooperatives Center Visayas Director Doris Canares said that cooperatives play an important role in the development of the countryside.

“Maong among gipadayag kung nganong dili gyud angay taxan ang kooperatiba kay, in the first place, we are people's organization, mostly sa atong mga miyembro niani kay mga masa like ordinary workers, farmers, fisherfolks and market vendors,” she said.

Canares also said that big cooperatives that are servicing non-members are already taxed and they are not protesting it. In the proposed tax repeal, even the small and starting cooperatives will be taxed which would be in contrast to the government's plans to develop the provinces.

By implementing the tax exemption repeal, the bill seeks to fund the Duterte administration's development agenda, says Canares. She said that their group instead wanted the administration to focus on getting the tax from Mighty Cigarette Corporation that are also worth billions.

She also said that the Department of Finance has accused the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) for not paying attention and that there are organizations that just registered in order to avail of the tax exemption.

“Mao nay giingon nila nga ma'y pa'g kuhaon nalang ang tax exemption sa cooperative,” she said.

At 2 p.m. yesterday, at least 2,000 cooperative members gathered at Fuente Osmeña circle, donning black shirts with texts: "No to Repeal of Cooperatives Tax Exemptions".

The organizers also said this will be just one of the series of demonstrations they will organize until President Duterte and Congress listen to their plight.