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MANILA, Philippine –The Sin Tax bill pushed by the administration in Congress is poorly crafted and will have a hard time under Senate scrutiny for being an arbitrary measure, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said. He also said the Senate will tread cautiously on a reported proposal to raise the controversial Road User’s charge by 30-40 percent.
“Dumating na sa Senado, pero palagay ko, madugo yan. Mahirap yun. Alam mo ang tatamaan dyan, mga mahihirap eh. Pagkatapos may mga mapapaboran, may mga madidiinan. Kailangan nyan equitable taxation, hindi pwede yung arbitrary [It has reached the Senate, but it faces rough sailing. It is too sweeping and will hurt the poor most. What we need is equitable taxation, not something arbitrary],” said Enrile, a Harvard-trained tax expert who once served as customs chief and secretary of finance.
Enrile said the way the Palace crafted the bill, any proponent will have a hard time answering questions on every provision of the measure since the proponents mixed the ad valorem tax and specific tax.
“Mahirap na isulong yan [It’s hard to push that]. The way they have crafted it, sinasabi ko na sa kanila, marami kaming tatanungin at mahirap nila siguro na masagot yan. Eh pinaghahalo halo nila yung ad valorem at specific tax...ngayon pag uusapan yan [I told them we have a lot of hard questions, especially since they mixed the ad valorem and specific tax],” he said.
At Harvard, he majored in taxation and corporate reorganization. He said the latter required him “to know everything [related] about the law---corporation, taxation, accounting,” so he is certain this bill will undergo the wringer.
Road tax: caution, too
Meanwhile, Enrile also cautioned the Executive branch to go slow on a reported proposal to impose a 30-40 percent increase in the Road User’s tax, which has raised billions though the years and burdened motorists, amid allegations of widespread misuse.
Billions of the proceeds from the controversial charge were alleged to have been misused during the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Enrile said it made little sense to raise the rate for a tax that is not only controversial and heavy as it is, but whose utility to public benefit is still in question.
He vowed the Senate would not allow the proposal to sail through the chamber.
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