Kamara
IMINUNGKAHI ni House committee on ways and means chairman at Albay Rep. Joey Salceda ang pagpapatawag ng special session upang maipasa ang mga panukala na mahalaga umano upang matugunan ang epekto ng coronavirus disease 2019.
Ayon kay Salceda kung sa isasagawang sesyon ay maaari ng maipasa ng Kamara de Representantes ang Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act, ang recovery plan na karugtong ng Bayanihan to Heal As One law at Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (CITIRA).
Pwede umanong isabay dito ang panukalang Philippine Economic Stimulus Act na kailangan upang matulungan ang mga Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises at malimitahan ang tanggalan sa trabaho.
“We need both by June if we want a V-shaped recovery,” ani Salceda. “We have to get both of these measures done now. I would of course prefer to have them approved for the President’s signature next week, but if we cannot, the best alternative is a special session.”
Sa ilalim ng Konstitusyon, ani Salceda, maaaring magpatawag special session ang Pangulo ng bansa kung kakailanganin.
“Our hesitation to do special sessions in the past was due to constituency work. We wanted to take advantage of breaks, in the past, to serve our districts. With the rules that allow us to convene virtually, we can do both constituency work and legislation during the scheduled adjournment. So, Congress would not mind a special session,” dagdag pa ni Salceda.
Sinabi ni Salceda na tinatayang $12 bilyong foreign investment ang nawala sa dalawang taong pagka-delay sa pagpasa ng CITIRA na noong Enero 2018 pa hinihingi ng Malacañang.
Naaprubahan ng Kamara de Representantes ang panukala noong Setyembre 2019. Hindi pa ito naaprubahan ng Senado.
“Every single week that we are unable to pass an economic stimulus plan and the corporate tax reform causes us hundreds of billions of pesos in foregone opportunities every week. At that rate, hindi na po kayang palagpasin pa hanggang July. June is the time to get them enacted into law, so that we can still reap the benefits in the second half. Kami po sa House, we are confident that if we have to, we can get both approved by June 3. If the Senate cannot, the President should extend session and not terminate until they get both passed,” dagdag pa ni Salceda.
Hindi umano dapat na patagalin pa ang pagtakip sa “economic wounds” ng bansa.
“We must stop the bleeding now. At this point, any imperfect bill will be much better than no reform by June.”
Si Salceda ang isa sa may-akda ng CITIRA, CREATE at PESA.