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HOUSE Speaker Prospero Nograles on Wednesday asked
the Senate to speed up the passage of the bill doubling the current
annual individual tax exemption from the maximum level of P96,000 to
P200,000 for salaried workers in the private and public sectors.
According to Nograles, the Senate
can adopt the version of the House in order to avoid the long
debates, which could prolong the bill’s passage.
“They [senators] can do this by
adopting the House version and avoid long and winding debates so the
law can be signed by the President and implemented as soon as
possible,” he said.
Nograles admitted he could not
hide his disappointment when the House failed to pass the measure
mainly because of the lack of a quorum, prompting him to declare the
immediate implementation of a “double roll call” to see to it
that House members will not leave the plenary right after the first
attendance call has been made.
This move resulted in the
immediate passage of the tax relief measure along with 79 other
bills of local and national importance. The House was able to pass
the tax relief measure simultaneously on second and third reading
following President Gloria Arroyo’s certifying the measure as
urgent.
“I am grateful to all my
colleagues in the House for responding promptly to our workers’
demand when on Monday and Tuesday this week, [the] plenary marathon
debates went unhindered. Quorum is not a problem now,” he said.
Nograles said he appreciates the
positive response of senators who vowed to expedite the
consideration of the tax measure. It was reported that Sen. Manuel
Roxas 3rd himself filed a similar bill seeking tax relief for
minimum wage earners.
“I am happy that Senate Ways
and Means Chairman Francis Escudero is leading the way for the
judicious approval of the tax relief bill. I would suggest that they
adopt the House-approved version, although we expect that the Roxas
bill would surely be on their agenda,” the Speaker said.
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