Makabayan to SC: Stop that TRAIN

MANILA, Philippines — The Makabayan bloc of leftist lawmakers yesterday reiterated their appeal for the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the so-called tax reform law, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN).

Speaking for the group, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said it is the high court that could prevent TRAIN from further wreaking havoc on the public and making the poor poorer.

Already, the government has admitted that prices rose by at least four percent in January, he said.

“It is likely that inflation this February and the coming months would be even higher because the four percent inflation in January is just the preliminary effect of the TRAIN Law,” he said.

It is in this light that the Makabayan bloc is asking the SC to stop the implementation of the law because “its approval in the House of Representatives was highly irregular and legally infirm,” he added.

Zarate warned the people to brace for more suffering due to TRAIN.

Starting this month, he said households and business establishments should expect higher electricity bills due to the higher tax on coal and the imposition of the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on the sale, distribution and transmission of electricity.

The coal tax and VAT on electricity took effect at the start of the year but these would be reflected in the consumption bills beginning this month, he said.

Zarate said people are now feeling the adverse effect of higher taxes on fuel, sugar-sweetened drinks and even cars.

Watchdog groups allied with Makabayan have reported that rice prices in many parts of the country have increased by P2 to P3 per kilo.

“The so-called Christmas gift from President Duterte is unfolding as a curse, and it raises a gloomy future for the poor people in the country,” Zarate said.

He said the pronouncements of the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Finance and Malacañang that higher taxes under TRAIN would have a minimal effect on consumer prices “are all fake news.”

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, principal proponent of TRAIN, has labeled the law as the best Christmas gift an administration could give to the people. 

The law also reduced income tax, but the net effect of the combination of lower income tax, on one hand, and higher levies on fuel and other products and services, on the other, is adverse for most taxpayers and consumers. 

Dominguez expects to collect an annual net gain of at least P130 billion from TRAIN. That is the amount of additional taxes the public would have to pay.