Stop TRAIN law, Supreme Court asked

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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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January 12, 2018
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MANILA – Party-list representatives asked the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

The law’s enactment violates the 1987 Constitution and the Rules of the House, Antonio Tinio (ACT Teachers), Carlos Zarate (Bayan Muna) and Ariel Casilao (Anakpawis) said in a petition filed at the high court on Thursday.

Under Section 16 (2), Article 6 of the 1987 Constitution and Section 75 of Rule XI of the House Rules, the House must have a quorum, which reflects the majority of the House membership, before doing any legislative business, they said.

“The House ratified the bicameral conference committee report – the harmonized version of the TRAIN bill prepared by the House and the Senate – on Dec. 13, 2017 despite the lack of quorum needed to carry the vote on passing the TRAIN bill,” read part of the petition.

Named respondents in the complaint were President Rodrigo Duterte, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu, Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, and Deputy Majority Leader Arthur Defensor Jr.

Around 10 representatives, including Tinio and Zarate, were present when the bill was approved, “therefore, it should be declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,” the petitioners noted.

“Having been no quorum during the last three minutes of its Dec. 13, 2017 session, the House of Representatives cannot legitimately and validly conduct any business,” the complaint read.

“Respondent House leaders therefore committed grave abuse of discretion when they disregarded the Constitution and the implementing House rules with regard to the basic and prejudicial requisite of quorum,” it added.

“No matter how many times (Duterte) signs the BCC (bicameral conference committee) Report, he could not, in the eyes of the Constitution, enact such an invalidly ratified document into law,” it further read.

The petitioners also contested the government’s claim that the tax reform law, which lowers income taxes while raising taxes on infrastructure and social services, is beneficial to the public.

“[They] will have zero and minimal benefits from the lowering of income taxes because they are already exempt to begin with (in the case of minimum wage earners and those in informal work of earning low or erratic incomes), or whatever additional take-home pay they will have will not be enough for the higher cost of living. However, they [are] the ones who will bear the heaviest burden,” the petition read.

“They will not be able to afford the higher prices that these new taxes will cause or will be able to only minimally offset these higher prices with what little additional finances they will get from the lowered PIT [personal income tax],” it added./PN
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