Thursday, February 21, 2008 House mulls canceling church's tax privileges
THE House of Representatives is considering the idea of revoking all the tax privileges of the Catholic Church and all religious institutions that engage in politics following the call of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for a "new brand of people power."
"In other countries like America, I am informed that once the church enters the political arena, they are stripped of their tax privileges but here in the Philippines, this is not the case. I do not know of any precedent here. Maybe it's worth studying by our political scientists," said House Speaker Prospero Nograles.
The church and all the institutions under its auspices such as schools and broadcast stations are all free of taxes.
CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo's call for another people power was made amid the growing calls for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's resignation brought about by the controversy surrounding the canceled US$329 national broadband network (NBN) deal with China's ZTE Corp.
Nograles, however, clarified that he was merely exploring the idea of taxing the church and not advocating it. He also stressed that he is a "devout" Catholic, but the principle of separation of church and state must always be respected.
Parañaque Representative Roilo Golez said any move to scrap the tax privileges of religious institutions, even if the move targets religious institutions that engage in politics, "is an assault on the principle of separation of church and state enshrined in the Constitution."
"It is a veiled threat on all religious organizations especially considering the vagueness of what constitutes 'politics.' The meaning and interpretation of which can be subject to abuse and capriciousness," he said.
"Will endorsing a candidate be considered engaging in politics? What about commenting on Charter change? What about allowing a priest to run for office?" he added.
Golez noted that John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison all recognized the need to uphold the principle of separation of church and state "primarily to prevent the state from encroaching in church affairs and not the other way around."
Golez said taxing or the intent to tax the church "is like pointing a gun at the organization to be taxed." "It must be remembered that the threat to unleash the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on any entity, business or person is a very frightening threat and can exert grave pressure," he said.
"That is also the reason why the government cannot appropriate funds to support a religious organization because a carrot, just like a stick, can unduly influence that religious group," he said. (WV/Sunnex)
