Tax reform package deepens poverty: labor group

June 1, 2017

The new tax reform package approved by the House of Representatives Wednesday will send millions of workers deeper into poverty, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) said. Once the House Bill 5636, known as Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) becomes operative, around 30 million workers will become poorer. “The impact of the proposed tax measure to workers is not uplifting because those who are already poor workers would become even poorer. This bill is a big mistake committed by congressmen who approved it,” ALU-TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said in a statement on Thursday. “With the approval of the Lower House, there is more reason for us to pursue our standing proposal to President Duterte to give P500 monthly cash subsidy for minimum-waged workers cope with the impending rise of prices of goods and services to be created by the tax measure,” Tanjusay said. Before the May 1 Labor Day rites, the ALU-TUCP proposed to the Office of the President to grant an Emergency Labor Empowerment and Assistance Program by providing minimum waged earners earning a salary of P10,000 a month a P500 monthly subsidy through cash vouchers in purchasing food, medicines and pay for tuition fee. Tanjusay said the tax measure will push inflation even higher at a faster rate. The current inflation rate is at 3.4 percent in March, the highest in four years. The measure will marginalize further the informal sector workers who are earning P6,000 a month because of the imposition of excise tax on fuel. “Productivity of workers will be severely affected once they experience more poverty brought about by this tax reform package,” Tanjusay said. DMS