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Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Councilor: Enhance collection, not increase taxes
THE government should enhance tax collections instead of increasing the taxes, Davao City Councilor Angela Librado-Trinidad bared Tuesday during the City Council regular session.
In her privilege speech, Trinidad said that the anti-tax advocacy should not be seen as anti-development but rather as an appeal to the humane and sensitive aspects of legislative work and public service.
"I don't think the government will be able to collect 100 percent if the taxes will be increased," Trinidad said, admitting that she had expressed oppositions to several proposed increases in the proposed Local Revenue Code.
Trinidad said that she sees wisdom in the slogan "tax the rich, not the poor."
"There is a need to tax correctly the city's big corporations and companies, not the ordinary retailers and the middle class as proposed. It doesn't make sense when one expects ordinary vendors, already operating under exploitive schemes, to take out part of their earnings for the government. More so, as women's advocate, it would be the height of callousness to impose higher fees for prostituted women," Trinidad said.
Trinidad suggested that the local government should also review payments for the unfinished Artica Sports Dome because while it has already been mothballed, the people are still paying for the loan from which it was built.
"It is not that we would do away with the payment but there could be an agreement for the local government not to be paying much," Trinidad said.
Trinidad also encouraged the council to urge the Senate to reject the expanded Value Added Tax (VAT) measure.
"The VAT measure is roundly anti-poor no matter what angle on considers it. The series of tax measures of the Arroyo government are appalling if one sees how wages, incomes and opportunities for our people have remained low," Trinidad said. (AAG)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here.
(February 9, 2005 issue)
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