Senator wants cedula abolished

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Francis Escudero has filed a bill that would pave the way for the abolition of the residence tax certification or cedula, which he said has long lost its significance and value.

Escudero said the cedula, a product of the Spanish occupation, has lost its value as a form of identification over the years and could be considered obsolete.

He said the cedula is already useless as several other proofs of identity are available, such as passports, driver’s licenses and other government-issued identification cards.

“The cedula now proves to be an unnecessary burden imposed on our people who are required to present it when doing public transactions. It was deemed useless by our forebears during the colonial times, it is more so today,” Escudero said.

Under Senate Bill 1082, the provisions of the Local Government Code of 1991 regarding the imposition of the residence tax would be repealed.

The cedula serves as proof of the payment of the residence tax.

Even the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has supported the abolition of the cedula since the national government does not gain anything from this in terms of revenue.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares previously said the cedula is obsolete and useless since no one uses it as proof of identification anymore.

All revenues from the cedula go to the coffers of the local government units.

The cedula was first implemented as a 19th century tax reform in the Philippines during the Spanish rule.

After the tribute system or head tax to Spain was abolished, the cedula was issued to all Filipinos upon payment of a residence tax.

In 1896, katipuneros led by Andres Bonifacio tore up their cedulas in defiance of Spanish rule in Balintawak.

 â€œAbolishing the cedula practice is also like scrapping a relic of our colonial past. Yes, we must always look back at our past to know where we are going, but the cedula is a thing of the past that should already be buried,” Escudero said.