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Monday, August 09, 2004
'Text tax' sparks first cyber-protest in RP (12:00 pm)
MANILA--- A consumer group on Monday said it would lead the first ever cyber-protest in the Philippines to denounce government plans to tax mobile phone text messaging or SMS, which is more common here than making a phone call.
The group has posted a petition on the Internet and asked supporters to add their names to the document asking Congress to scrap the tax measure aimed at generating revenues to help plug a budget deficit.
Mobile phone users can sign up to join the protest by sending an SMS to a dedicated cellular phone number which would collect all messages. The petition is then going to be passed to Congress.
The campaign is headed by TxtPower (http://txtpower.cp-union.org), which is composed of professionals and students who claim to represent a major portion of the country's millions of mobile phone owners.
The Philippines has an estimated 28 million mobile phone subscribers, and industry estimates said they expect half of the 84 million population to own a handset by the end of next year.
With 120 to 150 million messages crossing mobile phone networks daily, the Philippines has been tagged as the "text capital" of the world.
Text messaging is also cheaper than phone calls, making it the most popular way to keep in touch here.
"We are calling on all consumers opposed to the imposition of the new taxes on our cellphones to participate in the cyber rally," TxtPower said. "Using the very medium the government wants to tax, we can show how we vehemently oppose these impositions on cellphones that are being passed to consumers."
It said that "texting" has become a vital communication tool for majority Filipinos, in the absence of cheap and accessible public telecommunication systems nationwide.
Taxing SMS was among the eight tax measures President Arroyo asked Congress to pass last month to help narrow the deficit, which in the first half reached 80.1 billion pesos (1.43 billion dollars), exceeding a government-set ceiling. AFP
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