Sen. Leila de Lima on Thursday questioned the use of government funds following the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law.
The detained senator added that the tax reform program led Filipinos to suffer from price hikes of goods and services.
“Saan nga ba napupunta ang pondong nakukuha sa pagpataw ng mas mataas na buwis, kung kalbaryo lang naman ang hatid nito sa maraming Pilipino (Where did the funds from higher taxes go, which only brought suffering to the Filipino people)?” De Lima, a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, said in a dispatch from Camp Crame on Thursday.
De Lima said the government could be using the revenue from the tax increase for extravagant trips, spreading fake news, silencing critics, the “Build, Build, Build” program, and the bloody drug war.
“Sa nilustay kayang pondo sa mga biyahe ng gobyerno sa ibang bansa na panay junket; sa pagpapalobo ng budget ng Tanggapan ng Pangulo at ng Presidential Communications Operations Office na nagagamit lang sa pagkakalat ng fake news, propaganda, at paninira sa mga kritiko,” De Lima said.
(Did they use the funds to fund extravagant government foreign trips, to increase the budget for Office of the President and Presidential Communications Operations Office which were only used for disseminating fake news, propaganda and silencing critics?)
“O sa programa nilang “Build, Build, Build” na Chinese contractors o subcontractors lang naman ang tunay na makikinabang? O kaya naman, ginagamit itong pasuweldo at insentibo sa mga death squad sa ilalim ng pekeng War on Drugs na pumatay na ng libu-libo?” she added.
(Were the funds used for the “Build, Build, Build” program that will only benefit Chinese contractors or subcontractors? Or were they usesd for salaries and incentives for the death squad involved in the fake war on drugs that killed thousands?)
De Lima said Duterte admitted failing Economics, but she said it should not be used as an excuse for the decline of country’s economic state.
“Si Duterte na mismo ang nagsabing bagsak-bagsakan siya sa economics noon. Pero hindi ibig sabihin, pati sa mga kabulastugan niya ngayon, pababagsakin na rin niya ang ekonomiya ng bansa (Duterte himself admitted that he failed Economics, but it does not mean that he will also ruin the country’s economy),” she said.
The President, in his State of the Nation Address on July 30, shrugged off proposals to suspend the TRAIL law and urged Congress to approve the second package of the tax reform program. /ee
READ: Duterte rejects calls to suspend TRAIN law