Sin tax, budget too much on Drilon’s plate–Serge

Senator Sergio Osmeña III, the chair of the Senate committee on banks, said the Senate would be hard-pressed to pass the sin tax bill within the year if its new sponsor would also be the one shepherding the proposed appropriations law.

Osmeña was referring to Sen. Franklin Drilon, who took over the ways and means committee after Sen. Ralph Recto quit. Drilon is also chair of the Senate committee on finance which scrutinizes the budget.

“I do not know what Senator Drilon’s schedule is because he’s going to be awfully busy all of November on the budget. Budget pa lang, kawawa na siya [Just with the budget deliberations, he’d already be too busy],” said Osmeña.

“I think he’ll lose 10 to 20 pounds just on the budget,” he said drawing laughter from reporters.

“Yes, that’s true because you can only do one thing well at a time. Anybody can only do one thing well at a time. First things first,” Osmeña said when asked if passing the sin tax measure would become  more difficult to pass on time because Drilon is also tied up with the budget process.

Osmeña said Drilon is expected to bring the national budget to the plenary by the middle of November.

The Aquino administration, on the other hand, is counting on the passage of the sin tax law to bring in at least P40 billion for its universal health care program—an amount already listed in the budget it submitted to Congress.

‘We’ll see’

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, a party mate of President Aquino and Drilon in the Liberal Party, earlier said the passage in the Senate could happen as late as January next year according to Drilon’s timeline.

“The acting chairman says December or up to January. We’ll see,” Pangilinan said when asked if it was still realistic to expect the sin tax reform bill’s approval before the year ends.

Asked if it would be easier to pass the sin tax bill if a senator other than Drilon chaired the committee on ways and means, Osmeña, also an ally of President Aquino’s, answered in the affirmative.

“As long as you have the confidence of the Palace and they will back you up,” Osmeña said,  referring to the need for government officials to provide the figures to justify the assumptions in the sin tax bill.

Recto resigned the post after Secretary Manuel Mamba, head of the Presidential Legislative Liason Office, publicly insinuated that  those opposed to a popular measure like the sin tax as proposed by the administration were “open to suspicions of receiving lobby money.”

Administration officials have since denied that it was their intention to cast any senator in a bad light.

Recto earlier came up with a committee report with lower tax rates and a multitiered taxation on alcohol and cigarettes based on the products’ classifications.

In Recto’s version, the proposed sin tax reform would only generate P15 billion on the first year, way below the Aquino administration’s target of P60 billion.

Recto denied any impropriety and stressed that his committee report was based on figures provided by government offices and the studies of his staff.

Recto has since indicated that he would defend his findings on what the appropriate higher sin tax rates should be.

He has requested that the committee not use his report even as a starting point for debates and amendments.

Drilon has expressed a personal inclination to use Recto’s report but has also said he would get the sense of the committee members before deciding how to proceed.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has proposed that her original sin tax proposal be used instead.