DAVAO CITY – Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa laments the recent pronouncement of President Benigno Aquino III that he is rejecting the proposal to reduce income tax as this would affect more people.
The President on Monday said the proposal to reduce income tax will result to a “regressive taxation”, therefore affecting more people with higher prices of goods due to increased VAT (value added tax) to fill in the revenue gap needed.
However, Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson of the TUCP-Nagkaisa said the proposal to cut the income tax will “eventually increase purchasing power of workers amid rising costs of services and increasing prices of basic commodities.”
“We resent President Aquino’s outright rejection of proposed legislative measures aimed at reducing the very oppressive existing income tax. We were expecting that the least he would do is to revise the figure into a compromise, if not, phased tax cut. But to rather shot down the entire measure outright, President Aquino has permanenty sealed further the fate of workers in the hopeless dungeon,” said Tanjusay.
Tanjusay said the President “has not provided any relief for workers who helped build a competitive economy under his administration.”
He said the president “has rejected progressive labor groups’ proposals to alleviate workers’ burden caused by rising cost of goods and services.”
He also said Pres. Aquino disapproved Security of Tenure bills designed to make economic growth more inclusive.(davaotoday.com)
