Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara (File photo from INQUIRER.net)
“It seems like we’re being set up for failure.”
This was how Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara reacted on Wednesday to the warning of Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia that the government’s ambitious “build, build, build” program might not turn into reality if Congress would not pass the tax reform package being pushed by the administration.
“We don’t appreciate that pressure coming from the executive branch because we are doing our best here. But it seems like we’re being set up for failure. Sini-set up tayo sa failure,” Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, told reporters when sought for comment.
“Kumbaga, kung hindi natin ipinasa yung gusto nila, e, kasalanan namin kung bumagsak ang ekonomiya. Bakit, kami ba ang nasa manibela? Hindi naman kami ang may hawak ng manibela. Sila ang may hawak, nakasakay lang kami dun,” he said.
Angara said they were prioritizing the administration’s tax reform proposal.
“But we don’t appreciate those kinds of pronouncements from the executive,” he said. “That makes it appear that they’re trying to put us in a corner. Yun ang gusto nila. Parang pag hindi ninyo ginawa yan, e, kasalanan ninyo kung magka-leche leche ang bansa.”
“That’s not true because the Aquino administration was able to build a lot of infrastructure, it was able to grow the economy by 6 percent with only raising sin taxes. Bakit, hindi nila kaya yun?” the senator added.
In a press conference in Malacañang, Pernia urged Congress to pass the measure “in toto.”
“They should realize that we in the economic team, our interest is really just the country’s development, the improvement of society. We have no personal agenda at all. And we are trained to do economic analysis, tax analysis. Hence, we know what is best, what is optimal,” he said.
READ: No tax reform, no infra boom
The House of Representatives is set to vote on the measure this Wednesday while the Senate has started deliberations at the committee level.
Angara said the Senate might come up with a measure in the next few months. /atm