A female legislator on Saturday urged the government to remove taxes on computers, mobile phones, tablets, and other communication devices students and teachers will use for virtual and blended learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Removing taxes will considerably reduce the cost of these devices and gadgets, and make them affordable to poor learners and teachers,” Assistant Majority Leader and Quezon City Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo said.
She said these products are levied customs and tariff duties since they are imported, plus the 12-percent value added tax.
Castelo said the Department of Education has identified the tools students and their teaching personnel will need for distance and hybrid learning.
"My heart melted while watching a television report about a Bicol man on the verge of tears offering to exchange his three chickens for used smart mobile phones that his two boys could use for their virtual classes," she said.
Good Samaritans sent the man the gadgets his children need, telling him to keep his chickens, Castelo added.
“This story highlights the need for the government to make distance learning tools affordable to poor schoolchildren, at least during this pandemic,” she stressed.
The lawmaker also urged telecommunications companies to strengthen their Internet and mobile connectivity signals for blended education, especially in rural areas, using their existing infrastructure. “They can do that if they want to. During the recent lockdown, they offered to boost signals for free. The Internet became faster. Now, it’s back to a snail’s pace. Actually, you can have a faster Internet if you pay more, which means telcos can do it,” she said.
Castelo appealed to telcos to again offer reliable and faster Internet while schools have to do distance learning.
“It’s good business for them. I think they are among the few companies making money amid the pandemic,” she said.