EDITORIAL - Middle class also needs help

For Senator Raffy Tulfo, incoming chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, the middle class don’t really deserve any help or “ayuda” from the government even as the prices of oil and other basic commodities rise.

“For the middle class, I think we should study it first. But for those below middle class, the poor, yes...They can still afford to buy their needs. They receive at least above minimum wage. So let’s help those earning minimum wages or lower,” Senator Tulfo was quoted as saying in an online news report.

The senator should reconsider his stand.

As much as we hate to rehash points already previously mentioned, while those in the middle class may not suffer as much as those who are considered poor, they are suffering nonetheless.

And where does this ayuda come from? Taxes. Taxes paid for by the middle class who are the easiest to run after. The poor pay little or no taxes at all while the rich have so many options when it comes to tax holidays as well as ways to avoid paying taxes entirely.

In some cases the government doesn’t collect taxes from the rich at all.

While it is true that to some extent the middle class can take care of itself, this is not always the case. Even within the middle class income classification there are also brackets; the lower middle class, the middle middle class, and the upper middle class.

Of course, the lower middle income bracket, just one step above those who usually qualify to need ayuda, don’t really feel they are middle income at all. They will feel that at any time they can slide down the economic ladder with just one slip.

We hope Tulfo has a change of heart. If left unaided for too long and too often, some families in the middle class may soon find themselves among the ranks of those who will be needing ayuda.

And considering how things are going, we don’t see an end to the rise in prices of oil and other basic commodities anytime soon.