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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Sunday, June 18, 2017
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MANILA – Senate should investigate the potential adverse effects of the proposed tax reform program, according to Sen. Leila de Lima.
De Lima believes the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act would be “extremely burdensome” for the unemployed and underemployed.
Unemployed Filipinos rose to 39.2 million in 2016 from 38.4 million in 2015, while underemployed once increased 847,000 to 7.7 million in January 2016, de Lima said, citing official figures.
“These unemployed and underemployed persons will not benefit from the lowered income tax rates but will only suffer [from] the hike in the prices of basic goods precipitated by the proposed higher excise tax rates on fuel,” de Lima said in Senate Resolution No. 402.
President Rodrigo Duterte certified the tax reform program, or House Bill No. 5636, as urgent.
“There is a very urgent need for the government to anticipate and address the economic impact of rising unemployment, especially in light of President Duterte’s certifying [the tax reform bill] as urgent,” said de Lima, currently detained over drug trafficking charges.
She said the government should strengthen efforts toward job creation and generation, and solving job mismatch, with millions recently joining the labor force when the academic year ended./PN
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