Senator Francis Escudero (File photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis Escudero on Saturday called on the government to refrain from imposing more taxes that will deal a heavy blow to poor Filipinos, and instead be open to collecting more taxes from the wealthy.
Escudero made the suggestion as he criticized Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno who dismissed proposals to impose taxes on luxury goods and services.
“I am not in favor of any tax, but if there is any type of tax that we need to impose, it should start with discussions on it and not for [officials] to immediately reject the proposal and resort to tax alternatives that will burden more of our people, including the poor,” he said.
He was referring to Diokno’s pronouncements at a House hearing that rejected plans to impose tax on luxury goods.
“They [at the Department of Finance] are saying [tax on luxury goods] is difficult to implement because owners such as diamonds can just hide the luxury items. But let us not forget that luxury items are not limited to diamonds; these can be expensive cars — that cannot be easily hidden,” he said.