Guingona nixes road user's tax proposal

Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. opposed yesterday the proposed "road user's tax," saying the 400-percent average increase in charges for registration of vehicles and its double-charging effect are "unfair to the people and could be burdensome for the taxpayers."

Based on studies conducted by his office, Guingona said the proposed law, based on the principle of "the more your car weighs, the more you pay," is inequitable, unfair and can be an added burden to the already overtaxed public.

"While it is meant to improve the delivery of services, the government, in the process, is also making it harder for the people by imposing additional taxes. Registration only constitutes fees, not taxes," he said.

Guingona added: "The proposal converts registration fees into taxes, but there exists no uniformity as mandated in the Constitution because one charge is imposed on private cars and for-hire vehicles in the same amount, including jeepneys owned by cooperatives, majority of whom are poor trying to eke out a better life. There should be a different classification for for-hire vehicles."

Guingona said the proposed law is also a case of double-charging.

"The government already relies heavily on the BOT (build-operate-transfer) scheme and other tax laws to maintain roads, passed on to the taxpaying public as 'toll fees.' Why would the people pay more when there are already toll fees? This is therefore an unnecessary law," he said.

Guingona, the present Lakas president, said that once the proposed law is passed, all vehicle owners are duty-bound to pay the Land Transportation Office (LTO) charges corresponding to the weight and type of their vehicles.

"The inefficiency of the government should not be shouldered by the people. The administration must first improve the quality of roads and major thoroughfares before proposals like these could be implemented," he added.

Meanwhile, truck operators protested yesterday what they perceived as "extreme discrimination" against cargo trucks in the road user's tax proposal.

"Bakit trucks ang pinagbibintangan (Why blame the trucks)?" asked Jose Cortes, president of the Confederation of truckers Association of the Philippines.

Leaders of truck, bus, jeepney and taxi operators' groups trooped to Guingona's office yesterday to air their complaints against the proposal now being deliberated in the Senate.

The House of Representatives has approved the bill, one of tax measures being pushed by the Estrada administration. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile is the bill's principal sponsor in the Senate.