Members of the House of Representatives have expressed readiness to defend and stand up for the chamber’s version of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill when they meet the senators in the bicameral conference committee to hammer out the final version of the measure.
Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua (Lone District, Quirino), chairman of the committee on ways and means, said during the House bi-monthly media briefing that the House panel has done its part in studying well the chamber’s version of the TRAIN and is ready to defend its position in the bicam committee.
“What I can say is when we go to the bicam, of course we have done our research, we’ve done our studies on the revenue projections, the impact on the economy and industry, and consumers,” said Cua.
He urged their counterparts in the Senate to bring their notes as well in terms of impact on the economy and consumers, and the revenue projections so that they can discuss based on those parameters and not just what it looks like on paper.
“So, sana pagdating sa bicam ganun ang usapan, ano ang revenue niyan, ano ang revenue nito, bakit ganyan, may impact ba sa industriya at may impact ba sa consumer? And then we can find probably an optimal level,” said Cua.
Cua said what he personally likes in the House version is the P250,000 automatic tax free for each tax payer.
“I don’t really think it’s putting Congress in a bad light as some of the good features of the House version were highlighted,” said Cua.
Cua said everything is open for discussion as the tradition sets. But he stressed the only one limitation is the fact that all new tax measures must emanate from the House.
“Therefore, if there is a proposed new measure from the Senate, we will have to look into the legality of it. Kaya dun lang kami mag-iingat siguro. On my part, duon ko gustong mag-ingat, in the sense na dapat lahat ng tax measures, it’s either an existing tax measure in the tax code or already in the bill as forwarded by the Congress to the Senate,” said Cua.
Cua said while it is possible that President Duterte may veto the TRAIN if the original administration proposal to Congress is not approved, it would be better to just wait for developments in the bicameral conference committee.
“Yes, there is a possibility he will do that. But I think we’ll see first what happens (in the bicam). I think generally, it’s the positive step forward. As long the net is above, it’s still a positive step forward. But of course the possibility is there, the President may always veto if he sees that if it’s the wrong policy for the country, then he can always do so,” said Cua.
So far, Cua said he and Senate committee on ways and means chairman Senator Juan Edgardo Angara have not yet met about the details of the Senate’s TRAIN report. “In fact, I’ve only asked the ways and means committee staff to get a copy of the report and try to make a comparison between what the House has passed compared to the Senate version,” he said.
Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles (1st District, Davao City), chairman of the committee on appropriations, expressed confidence that the House committee on ways and means can ably defend the House version of the TRAIN.
“The ball is in the hands of the committee on ways and means when they go to bicam. Hopefully they will be able to fight for the desired projections, because those were the basis when the budget was drafted and sent to the House,” said Nograles.
Nograles said it is unfortunate that per the computations of the Department of Finance, the Senate TRAIN version could only collect about P59.9 billion. Whereas, the House version is set to collect P133 billion.
“So, malaki yung diperensya. Kung ganun ang magiging version at totoo yung estimates ng DOF, it will have an effect on the debt that would be incurred by the government. So, we’re still set, obviously we passed a budget bill that is supposed to spend P3.767 trillion, hindi po magbabago yan. And it is not good practice and it is not sound policy for us to change what has already been approved by Congress,” said Nograles.
If the tax reform package does not yield the desired income which was supposedly based on the House members’ projections of P133.8 billion, Nograles said the government would be forced to increase its debt borrowings.
“Kung ano yung hindi natin na-collect, yun ang kailangan nating dagdag na uutangin, dagdag sa borrowings natin,” said Nograles. / RBB | congress-pr
