AS Filipinos commemorated on Thursday the 154th birth anniversary of Gat Andres Bonifacio, an advocacy group renewed its call to Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara not to pursue the enactment of the “monster” Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill.
At a news conference in Quezon City, Rodolfo “RJ” Javellana Jr., United Filipino Consumers and Commuters president, stood firm on opposing the new tax reform.
He described the package of the comprehensive tax reform (TRAIN) measure as a ‘monster bill.’
The group launched a protest action to dramatize its opposition to the Senate’s approval of the TRAIN bill on third and final reading last Tuesday.
Senator Risa Hontiveros voted against the bill.
According to Javellana, the new tax measure, if passed, would impose a 12 percent value-added tax on socialized, economic or low-cost housing unit worth P2 million.
Under the existing law, such socialized housing is exempted from the 12 percent VAT.
“We have at least 5.7 million families without a decent home. Should Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and the lawmakers insist the monster bill’s passage, the housing backlog for 5.7 million families without a decent home is expected to balloon,” Javellana told reporters.
“The Bureau of Customs under DoF is losing P200 billion in revenues due to technical smuggling. We actually do not need the monster bill if only the government would do its tax collection job well,” he said.