Admin’s tax proposals not ‘slam dunk’ in Senate – Escudero

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — The approval of the tax and revenue measures being pushed by the administration will not be a “slam dunk” in the Senate and may even be blocked “if they will cause misery to an already overtaxed people.”

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero issued the warning on Thursday, just days after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. pleaded to Congress to pass his priority bills that include tax measures.

The proposed revenue measures may be “doomed,” however, if the administration would send to Congress the  “same crew that did a poor job in explaining the Maharlika Investment Fund,” the senator said.

Escudero was not on the Senate floor when the chamber voted last May to pass the controversial Maharlika measure, which the President later signed into law.

“At this time, selling taxes to Filipinos is like asking an Eskimo to buy a freezer,” Escudero, who previously headed the Senate committee on ways and means, said in a statement.

“One, we have become an e-commerce republic. So, expect a massive pushback when you start taxing any good added on the cart,” he said, referring to a Palace-backed bill that will slap taxes on online purchases.

Another measure — the proposal to raise motor vehicle registration fees — faces “roadblocks” in Congress since Escudero said, “car owners are already taxed twice daily at the pump when gas has a VAT (value-added-tax) on top of the excise tax.”

“Tapos nandyan pa ang toll, the price motorists pay for the government’s failure to fix public roads,” he pointed out.

The Marcos administration will also be putting “its huge political capital on the line” with its plan to push for more taxes at a time when prices are high while workers’ pay is low, Escudero said.

Escudero nevertheless believes that “good messaging” could help convince people that these tax measures are needed though painful.

“Kaya dapat ang ipapadalang mga taong magbebenta ng isang mahirap lunukin na produkto ay ‘yung hindi mahina sa pagpapaliwanag,” he said.

(So, the people who will be sent to sell a difficult-to-understand product should be those who are not poor in explaining.)

Nevertheless, the senator promised to keep an open mind and study the merits of these tax proposals that this administration wants to pass.

JMS/abc