Senate may defer acting on economic bills if COVID-19 rages on, says Sotto

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Saturday said the Senate may delay action on economic bills, particularly the  Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (Citira) if the threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rages on.

The Citira bill aims to gradually reduce the corporate income tax (CIT) rate in the country by 1 percent every year—from 30 percent to 20 percent by 2030.

The Senate version of the bill, Senate Bill No. 1357, was recently endorsed for plenary approval by Senator Pia Cayetano.

“Yung mga naka-pending sa amin na Citira, yung (Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act) Pifita, yung mga bills ng Department of Finance, kung lalala itong situation, di muna kami kikilos dyan, malamang di namin ia-address muna ‘yan,” Sotto said during the In Focus Forum in Quezon City when asked what senators have planned should an economic crisis hit the country due to COVID-19.

(The pending bills like Citira, Pifita, the bills of the Department of Finance, if the situation will worsen, we will defer acting on them. Most likely we won’t act on them for now )

And should the Philippines face an economic crisis due to the coronavirus, Sotto said the Senate is ready to help the Executive department alleviate the problem.

“At sana pinag-iisipan din ng Executive department at kung kailangan ng tulong ng Senado, tutulong kami eh kung paano ia-alleviate yung problema sa ekonomiya kapag nangyari ‘yan. And we’re only until legislation” he said.

(We hope that the executive department is thinking about it, and if they need the help of the Senate, we will help on how to alleviate the problem in the economy should it happen.)

Currently, the Philippines has only three confirmed COVID-19 cases and one death.

“Swerte pa tayo, kasi tayo isa may mga konting biktima,” Sotto said. “Hopefully, pagpasok ng summer, eh lalo tayo hindi maapektuhan kasi hindi raw nabubuhay sa mainit yung virus na ‘yun.”

(We’re lucky because we’re one of the countries that have the fewest victims. Hopefully, when summer enters, we won’t be affected further because it has been said that the virus can’t survive the heat)