Militant solons see SC ruling against ‘regressive’ TRAIN Law

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — One of the petitioners who sought to nullify the government’s tax reform law for being invalid is confident that the High Court will rule on their favor.

“We are confident that we have laid down compelling legal and ​C​onstitutional arguments to support our petition,” Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate told DavaoToday in a phone interview.

Makabayan bloc lawmakers filed on Thursday a petition against the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, arguing the law has “procedural infirmities” since Congress did not follow the rules on ratification.

He described the new law as “regressive” because the taxes imposed by the tax law are being passed on, directly or indirectly, to the poor Filipinos.

“It is the rich that benefit most from the Train,” Zarate said.

Zarate, one of the petitioners​,​ said their petition includes a prayer for SC to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)

Other petitioners include Davao-based lawmaker Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao, and ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio.

According to the militant lawmakers, the passage of ​the TRAIN​ ​Law “without a quorum and a vote” was a violation of the established rules on ratification.

“Our petition is premised on the fact that the House blatantly violated the Constitution and its own rules in ‘ratifying’ the Bicameral Conference Committee Report of the​ TRAIN​ ​bill without a quorum and without a vote,” the bloc said in a statement on Thursday.

Casilao of Anakpawis said their petition was mainly “procedural,” noting that the main argument is that the House violated its own ruling in ratifying the Train law without the required quorum.

“We are currently substantiating our argument as to the substance of the Train law that is mainly regressive in nature,” Casilao said.

He added the new law would result more “disadvantageous” to the people.

“We will be filing the second petition, questioning the substance, constitutionality of Train law upon completing our further study,” Casilao said. (davaotoday.com)