Cement workers pay more taxes than top importers

Ninety-seven members of the La Union Cement Workers’ Union of the Union Cement Plant in Bacnotan, La Union are paying more taxes than four of the biggest cement importers in the country, documents presented to the Tariff Commission (TC) revealed.

In a letter to TC chairman Edgardo Abon, the union submitted a listing of their members and the individual taxes they have paid last year. The letter, signed by union president Samuel Eslava, underscored the contribution of the country’s cement workers to the national economy.

According to the document, the 97 workers in the cement plant in La Union are paying a total of P3.3 million in income taxes annually. This is about 30 percent more than the taxes paid in year 2000 by four cement importing companies, including the biggest importers of cement from Taiwan and Indonesia.

Financial reports submitted to the TC indicated that the four cement-importing companies paid a total of P951,433 in income taxes for 2000.

In their letter to Abon, the workers expressed support to the petition of local cement manufacturers with the TC for the imposition of definitive safeguard measures under the Safeguard Measures Act. The local cement industry has complained of an import surge in cement, resulting in substantial loss of market that forced many of them to downsize their work forces.