By Moira Encina
Eagle News Service
Militant lawmakers asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to declare the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion unconstitutional, noting what they said was a lack of quorum when its bicameral conference committee report was ratified in the House of Representatives.
In their petition, Reps. Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna, Ariel Casilao of Anakpawis, and Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers party-list, also asked that the SC issue a temporary restraining order on the implementation of the law, pending resolution of the case.
Named respondents were President Rodrigo Duterte, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu, Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, and Deputy Majority Leader Arthur Defensor Jr.
According to the petitioners, there were only 10 to 15 House members on the floor on Dec. 13, 2017, when the bicameral conference report, or the harmonized Senate and House versions of the TRAIN bill, was tackled.
As such, the House leaders, they argued, committed grave abuse of discretion when they went ahead and ratified the report.
It follows then that Duterte himself also committed grave abuse of discretion when he signed TRAIN into law, they said.
“No matter how many times he signs the BCC Report, he could not, in the eyes of the Constitution, enact such an invalidly ratified document into law,” the petitioners said.
The petitioners also questioned the government’s claim that the law–which lowers personal income–was actually a benefit to the public.
They noted that the poorest sectors of society “will be the ones who will bear the heaviest burden.”
“They will not be able to afford the higher prices that these new taxes will cause, or will be able to only minimally offset these higher prices with what little additional finances they will get from the lowered (personal income tax),” they said.