DBM chief allays fears over stalled CTRP passage

MANILA, Philippines - Budget Sec. Benjamin Diokno countered yesterday the bleak assessment of Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia that the government’s ambitious infrastructure program may be in peril if Congress fails to pass the tax reform measure this year.

According to Diokno, the executive branch is pinning its hope on the commitment of the House of Representatives that it will pass the measure before sine die adjournment this Friday.

Diokno said the President’s Build, Build, Build program is not solely relying on the proceeds that would be raised from the implementation of the tax reform program.

“So, the statement of Sec. Pernia, I would say it’s premature, let us not speculate because we came from the House of Representatives, along with Executive Secretary (Salvador) Medialdea. We were given the assurance that the House will pass the measure before they adjourn,” Diokno said.

Pernia said in a briefing at Malacañang last Tuesday the envisioned golden age of infrastructure under the Duterte administration may end up becoming the “dark ages” if the tax measures are not implemented by lawmakers.

Speaking at the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum hosted by The STAR associate editor Marichu Villanueva at Café Adriatico in Manila yesterday, Diokno said the Senate would also work on the measure’s approval to have it in time for fiscal year 2018.

The economic managers are eyeing more than P 200-billion income from the tax measure for next year, once passed and implemented by the government.

But Diokno lamented that Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, the chairman of the Senate ways and means committee, is not keen on working for the approval of the measure since it is a burden to the public.  

While it aims to reduce personal income tax from about 30 percent to 25 percent, the CTRP also goes with the package of increasing other forms of taxes.