Duterte admin’s tax plan ‘heartless’—Trillanes

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Sunday joined fellow senators in opposing the tax plan of the Duterte administration, particularly the plan to impose additional tax on oil products.

Trillanes called the government’s plan to impose a P6 per liter tax on diesel and taxes on gasoline and cooking gas a “heartless” and “unreasonable” proposal and a “burden to the Filipino people.”

READ: 2 senators buck higher taxes on oil products

“After killing thousands of poor people in his war on drugs, the President now intends to slowly kill many more Filipinos with his tax plan that would significantly increase prices on fuel, transportation, and basic commodities,” Trillanes said in a statement.

“This just shows the President’s lack of sympathy to the plight of Filipino people. Instead of stimulating the economy, the Duterte tax plan will greatly diminish the purchasing power of the people thereby worsening the poverty in our country… Definitely, I will do everything in my capacity to oppose this heartless and unreasonable proposal in the Senate,” he added.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier said the plan to increase fuel tax was intended to increase revenue to fund the government’s ambitious infrastructure program that would cost P8 trillion to P9 trillion during the six-year term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Aside from Trillanes, Senators Ralph Recto and Leila de Lima also rejected the plan to impose additional tax on fuel products. Recto said there was no fiscal crisis in the country to justify its imposition, while De Lima said the planned increase could result in raising transport fares and consumer goods.

Senators Francis Escudero and Vicente Sotto III were also not keen on the administration’s plan, saying it should first exhaust other sources of revenue and collecting taxes before imposing additional tax on oil products. JE/rga