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TRAIN 2 a House priority under Arroyo’s leadership


The proposed corporate income incentives reform law, or the second package of the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN 2) law, is a priority of the House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Arroyo made this clear on Tuesday after attending a hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means on the matter.

“Yes,” Arroyo told reporters in an ambush interview when asked if the proposed law is part of the priorities of the House under her watch.

She noted that TRAIN 2 was part of the legislative agenda President Rodrigo Duterte mentioned during his State of the Nation Address.

“And I said in my very short statement upon assumption, the first and foremost job I have as Speaker is to carry out the legislative agenda of President Duterte,” she said.

Arroyo, however, declined to elaborate on the timetable for the measure in the House.

“I don’t want to be very explicit about the timeline but it’s a priority,” she said.

Under the proposed measure, the Duterte administration seeks to lower the corporate income tax from 30 percent to 25 percent and rationalize fiscal incentives.

Arroyo said it is “misleading” to call the measure as the second package of TRAIN.

“This is corporate income incentives reform,” she said.

The first package of the tax reform law reduced personal income tax rates and at the same time increased excise taxes on petroleum products, automobiles, and imposed a levy on sugar sweetened beverages.

Following the Ways and Means Committee hearing, Arroyo had a working lunch with government economic managers and some lawmakers to discuss economic issues such as inflation, among others.

“You saw already the causes of inflation that they gave, and we have to address them one by one,” Arroyo told reporters.

Duterte on Thursday said Arroyo asked him to address rising consumer prices, which some sectors blame on his tax reform program.

“There is a new Speaker. And it’s good because Gloria is an economist. She was the one who called me about two weeks ago to do something about the inflation,” Duterte said.

Arroyo declined to give further details about his talk with Duterte.

“That’s between him and me.” —VDS, GMA News

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