Lawmakers call Duterte’s tax plan burdensome

Lawmakers slammed President Duterte’s tax plan, which they say “will burden” ordinary Filipinos and runs counter to the pro-poor promises he made during the campaign.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV called on all sectors to oppose Duterte’s “heartless and unreasonable” tax plan.

The Duterte administration plans to raise at least P566 billion in new tax measures to support its infrastructure programs and finance other programs, including subsidies for education and health as well as salary increases.

The additional revenues from these tax measures would cost taxpayers P8 trillion over the next five years.

The government aims to increase to P10 per liter the excise tax on regular gasoline and other products that are presently imposed positive excise tax rates, such as leaded and unleaded premium gasoline, aviation turbo jet fuel, lubricating greases and oils, naphtha, as well as petrolatum and waxes.

Diesel, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and other products presently exempted from excise tax will be levied with a P6 per liter excise tax. This will immediately increase current retail prices of these products by P6 per liter.

The value added tax exemption being afforded to senior citizens and persons with disabilities will also be removed under the same Duterte tax plan.

The Duterte administration also recommended to scrap the proposed increase in Social Security System (SSS) pension.

“After killing thousands of poor people in his war on drugs, the President now intends to slowly kill many more Filipinos with his tax plan that would significantly increase prices on fuel, transportation and basic commodities,” Trillanes said in a statement.

“This just shows the President’s lack of sympathy to the plight of Filipino people. Instead of stimulating the economy, the Duterte tax plan will greatly diminish the purchasing power of the people thereby worsening the poverty in our country,” he added.

Trillanes said he would exert all efforts to oppose the tax measures in the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said last week the proposal was ill- timed because world oil prices were on the way up and there was no fiscal crisis to justify it.

“Just improve collection efficiency and stop smuggling,” Recto told the Duterte administration. “In addition, government collects more taxes when the economy grows faster. Then grow the economy. Spend the budget first.”

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III urged Malacañang to look for other sources of revenue before considering the imposition of such a huge burden on the public.

Sen. Francis Escudero said that he would like to study the proposal but expressed belief that the reported hike in fuel taxes was too much.

‘Economic team sabotaging Rody

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said the administration’s economic team is sabotaging Duterte with its proposal to tax diesel and its recommendation to scrap the proposed increase in SSS pension.

“The economic managers blocked the pro- poor staggered P2,000 SSS pension hike and the moratorium on land use conversion of agricultural lands. They are vigorously pushing for an increase on excise taxes of oil products,” said Zarate, a constituent of Duterte in Davao City.

“These mainly pro-elite and oligarchic economics run counter to the previous pro-poor and pro-people pronouncements of President Duterte. The economic managers are sabotaging the President,” he added.

Zarate warned Duterte that he would isolate himself from the people if he continues to listen to his economic team and turn his back on the pro-poor promises he made during the election campaign.

Duterte’s economic team is composed of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.

‘ Don’t expect Duterte to fulfill all his promises’

In a news conference in Malacañang last week, Diokno said people should not expect Duterte to fulfill all of his campaign promises. “Candidate Duterte is different from President Duterte.”

Diokno explained the President now has access to information that was not available to him when he was a candidate and which could derail the fulfillment of some campaign commitments.

Diokno admitted that the economic team has recommended to the President that the proposed SSS pension hike should be accompanied by an increase in premium contribution.

But Zarate said instead of raising additional taxes from poor taxpayers, the Duterte government should collect more “from the 50 richest Filipino oligarchs who have a combined net worth of $79.5 billion or P4 trillion, bigger than this year’s budget of P3.35 trillion, and the 690 ultra-high net worth Filipinos who have at least P1.4 billion each.”

The Duterte administration should also collect more from other rich Filipinos, including corporate executives, and the top 1,000 corporations, Zarate said.

“These rich families and large corporations benefit the most in the exploitation of our economy, natural resources and our cheap labor. It is only just and equitable that they shoulder a large part in funding the social and other amelioration programs of the government,” he added.