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Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Arroyo pushes tax amnesty bill
MANILA -- President Arroyo certified as urgent Monday a proposed tax amnesty measure, which she said is necessary to raise needed revenues for the government's economic and social reform agenda.
Arroyo, in a letter sent to Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr., urged the immediate enactment of House Bill 2933 or an Act Granting a One-time Tax Amnesty to all unpaid National Internal Revenue Taxes imposed by the National Government for taxable year 2003 and prior years.
She said the measure is needed to "to meet the public emergency borne out of the urgent need to creatively mobilize revenue sources in the immediate term to fund the government's economic and social programs."
Arroyo said the proposal would also help instill the value of civil responsibility among the citizenry, particularly on errant taxpayers as it gives them an option to "make a truthful and faithful disclosure of their untaxed income or adjust their statement of assets and net worth in order to become an integral part of the national tax base."
The House committee on ways and means passed the proposed tax amnesty bill last week, which is part of the administration's eight revenue measures.
The Senate, meanwhile, said it is foregoing its sessions for an all senators to finally discuss the proposed revenue bills. Drilon said any consensus reached would be discussed with the Executive Department.
Congress is still tackling the proposed indexation of excise tax for sin products, the institutionalization of the lateral attrition system and rationalization of fiscal incentives, which are to be passed this year.
The four other revenue bills are the two-step increase in Value-Added Tax (VAT) rates; re-imposition of franchise tax on telecommunication companies; increase in excise tax on petroleum products and the adoption of a gross income tax system for corporations and business incomes earning individuals.
Arroyo also thanked the Senate for finally buckling down to work on the tax reform package.
"We are confident in the collective capacity of the upper chamber to steer a consensus in the national interest. We hear faith that the future of our nation lies in the hands of patriotic institutions and ennobling leaders," the President said.
"We welcome principled debates and criticisms that would sharpen the revenue program and the executive branch is prepared to do its share to go after tax cheats at all levels and to set the example in fiscal discipline and in enforcing operational efficiency and integrity," she added.
Presidential Spokesman and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye cited the commitment of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to maximize tax collections and collect at least P38 billion worth of taxes.
He dismissed statements that the President is to blame for the fiscal problem, adding that it is unfair as Arroyo is the one who is providing a solution.
"She's very serious about meeting all the requirements for us to be able to go over the hump and this includes an array of measures like tax revenues, austerity measures, going after tax cheats fighting corruption. It's not time for finger pointing or blame-tossing. What is important is we recognize the problem and it's the President who's trying to do something about this very huge problem of the country," he said.
Malacaņang, however, rejected the proposal of Mt. Province Rep. Victor Dominguez to legalize jueteng to help raise additional revenues.
Bunye said the Arroyo administration is built on a strong moral foundation that will not be easily compromised even by serious fiscal challenges.
"To tap jueteng and other illegal activities as sources of revenue is not advisable or acceptable. The administration's commitment to stamp out jueteng is as steadfast as before and will not falter," he added.
Bunye said the government is committed to finding other means to raise revenue without sacrificing one's values.
He said one of the measures is the rationalization of the salaries and benefits of the executives and directors of the government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs).
The new rationalized salaries and benefits are to be applied to the new appointees of the President to the different GOCCs and GFIs, he added.
He added that while a law enacted by Congress to amend the charters of the different GOCCs and GFIs to control the increase in salaries and benefits of executives is not considered as urgent at the moment, it would help clarify the legal issues.
Bunye said Arroyo is giving the executives time to voluntary cut back on their pay, benefits and other perks before any sanctions, including dismissal, is imposed on non-complying officials.
Arroyo last week said some executives had agreed and on their own started cutting back their pay and allowances in compliance with the austerity measures of the administration.
Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin is now reviewing the salaries and allowances received by officials of at least 15 GOCCs following Arroyo's order of pay cut.
The President on Monday acknowledged newly-appointed Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) president Rey David, who left the private sector and accepted his new job, despite a huge difference between the salary and allowance he used to get and the much lower pay that he would be getting as GOCC head.
Arroyo temporarily stopped the oath-taking ceremonies and announced "Excuse me, but I have to acknowledge Rey David, even if his market price is very high, he's taking a cut before he enters a GOCC."
Data on how much David's salary and allowances as DBP president would be trimmed down and how much he used to get as an executive of Citibank before joining the government are not available.
David, in an ambush interview after his oath taking, said he does not mind making a voluntary cut in his pay.
"It's time to give back, time to serve the government. I have no regrets. Especially to a leader like PGMA (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), you don't think twice," David said.
Aside from David, other GOCC heads who took their oath Monday included new Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Chairman Sergio Valencia and Public Estates Authority (PEA) Chairman Ramon Revilla Sr. (JMR)
(September 21, 2004 issue)
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