Senate won’t set TRAIN 2 hearings
The Senate will not initiate public hearings on the proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Package 2 until it has received a House of Representatives-approved measure because tax bills must emanate from the Lower House based on the 1987 Constitution.
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said his colleagues are cautious on this tax measure because they had been “burned” by TRAIN 1 where finance experts had assured lawmakers that the inflation rate would not exceed four percent.
As the months went by this fiscal year, the inflation rate rose to more than five percent, triggering price increases of rice, fuel, basic goods, even vegetables, and the volume of criticisms from the public.
The political opposition in the Senate has called for the repeal of the measure or freezing of the collection of increased tax rates on fuel.
Sotto said the Senate has yet to receive a copy of the proposed TRAIN 2 bill.
What was not fully explained to the public is that under TRAIN 1, those getting an increase of P1,600 in the monthly pay would no longer pay income tax, he pointed out.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri had said no senator in the 24-member Senate wants to file or sponsor aTRAIN 2 bill because of the negative impact of TRAIN 1 on commodity prices.
Moreover, Sotto said, that Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee which handles money bills, is weighing his position on this issue as the May 2019 mid-term election approaches.
Angara is one of the seven reelectionists in the Upper Chamber.
The 16 other senators who are not up for reelection are weighing their options, Sotto said.
There is no bill filed in the Senate complementing the TRAIN 2 bill at the Lower House “because we don’t understand it.”
Sotto said that the Senate would pass TRAIN 2 only if finance experts are able convince senators that it is beneficial to the Filipino people.