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EDITORIAL
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February 2, 2018
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A MONTH since the Duterte administration implemented its much-hyped Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, not a few have expressed serious alarm over its effects. The labor rights organization Center for Trade Union and Human Rights, for example, says the law is rapidly plunging workers and poor families into deeper poverty and precariousness.
This view is shared by those who have complained of further belt-tightening to cope with rocketing prices of basic goods and commodities. Small store owners complain of profit reduction yet afraid to adjust their prices as they may end up losing customers. People are troubled by the looming surge in transportation fares and electricity rates due to higher tax on oil products.
These responses speak how the TRAIN severely affects the poor in general. What it has accomplished so far is to simply and effectively widen the gap between daily income and high cost of living. The tax reform makes it more difficult for workers even in the formal sector to get by with the value of their meager wages shrinking amid soaring prices of basic goods.
Data from independent think-tank Ibon Foundation showed that 7.5 million individuals with annual earnings of P250,000 purportedly stand to benefit from lower personal income tax. But this is only half of the 15.2 million minimum-wage earners. They and low-income families bear the brunt of TRAIN-triggered price increases with no income tax gains.
An Ibon study further showed that the richest 10 percent with average earning of P104,107 monthly will get an additional P90,793 annually while the middle income and lower-middle income families will have P7,880 to P24,343 additional take home pay. On the other hand, the poorest 60 percent or 13.7 million families will have to shoulder between P600 to P2,000 additional expense.
Instead of bringing relief, the new tax measure seems to be adding more burden to workers long been suffering from meager wages and job insecurity. No thanks to higher consumption taxes hitting the poor more while ensuring bigger profits for oligarchs and corporations. To say that the TRAIN is this administration’s biggest gift to Filipinos shows its gross disconnect to the real plight of the poor majority.
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