Friday, January 11, 2008 Admin lawmaker says no to text tax
SENATOR Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. strongly opposed the proposal of taxing text messages as a buffer from the oil tax reduction, as he warned the government of depriving the poor of a reliable and affordable means of communication.
Revilla stressed that the proposal of Trade Secretary Peter Favila to slap tax on SMS messages would be regarded "as anti-poor because text messaging is an inexpensive and popular form of communication in the country."
"Unlike the oil tariff reduction, the tax on text messages will be felt instantly by millions of Filipino cell phone owners and will backfire to the government by means of public condemnation. While I may be amenable to the possible increase in sin taxes, I still need to be convinced that new taxes are indeed necessary," he said.
The senator said tax on SMS messages is not the answer to the proliferation of text messages containing scams and rumors, especially on destabilization attempts.
Revilla pointed out that cell phone users nowadays are more vigilant against text messages coming from anonymous senders as he dismissed the claim that imposing a tax on SMS messages could make Filipinos shift their focus on endeavors that are more productive.
"We should not forget that our poor and middle-class countrymen rely on texting not only to communicate to their loved ones and friends but also to transact business, whether they are street vendors or small-time exporters. They will be the ones who will be directly hit by this unwelcome proposal," he explained.
Revilla said he is not convinced that new taxes are necessary because this would be an added burden to the public. Instead, he urged the government to further strengthen collection of already existing taxes to cover revenue losses from oil tariff reduction.
"The government should intensify campaign against smugglers and those underpaying their tax obligations. We should increase tax collection at the same time decrease government spending," he added.
The consumer group TXTPower, which also opposed any new tax on telecommunications, said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should stop her foreign travels to save public funds instead of imposing tax on text.
"(President) Arroyo spent P692-million in public funds her 2005 and 2006 junkets alone. Another estimate is P8.2 billion for the past six to seven years," said TXTPower president Anthony Ian Cruz.
Joining TXTPower in twin calls for the rejection of text tax and a moratorium on the President's foreign travels are the Computer Professionals Union (CPU), League of Filipino Students (LFS) and Kabataan party-list group.
"Just imagine how much money the Philippines will save if she (Arroyo) declares an end to her jet-setting lifestyle," said Cruz, adding that, "without these junkets, we will not need any new text tax and may abolish the much-hated expanded value-added tax (e-VAT)."
"We have lost count of Arroyo's many foreign trips -- has she flown out of the country 100 or 200 times since 2001?" Cruz asked.
Meanwhile, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol said Malacañang is not very optimistic about the approval of the proposed tax on text messages.
Apostol said texting is already a "vice" among Filipinos, just like the sin taxes, because they cannot seem to shake off the habit of sending even unnecessary text messages.
He said the tax on text is not likely to be passed because of opposition from millions of Filipinos who are addicted to texting. (CPB/JMR/Sunnex)
