More congressional leaders have given their support to the proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act that the Department of Finance (DOF) is asking the legislature to approve to help Malacañang raise enough funds for its priority programs on sustaining high growth and reducing poverty.

Four leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives—Deputy Speaker Romero Quimbo, Senators Juan Edgardo Angara and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, and Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua–all cited at a recent tax forum this DOF-proposed comprehensive tax reform program, the first package of which was submitted last month to the House ways and means committee.

Topped by the adoption of a modified gross system for the personal income tax (PIT), Package One also includes several measures to offset the foregone revenues from the proposed PIT cuts.

These are measures to broaden the Value Added Tax (VAT) base, adjust the excise tax on petroleum products, and restructure the tax on automobiles, except for buses, trucks, cargo vans, jeepneys, jeep substitutes and special purpose vehicles.

Angara and Cua are the respective heads of the Senate and House ways and means committee; Aquino chairs the Senate committee on education, arts and culture; and Quimbo chaired the House ways and means committee in the past Congress.

At the Philippine Tax Congress in Makati City, Quimbo noted what he called a “paradigm shift at the DOF” from the current direct taxation towards indirect forms of taxation that would raise more revenues for the state coffers.

“I’m absolutely delighted with the fact that the DOF, for the first time in the last seven years, is actually going out of its way to present a comprehensive tax reform program,” said Quimbo, who likewise pointed out that he “rarely see[s] Secretaries of Finance actually presenting at [the tax reform package] at this lateness of this hour.”

Dominguez, along with DOF Undersecretaries Karl Kendrick Chua and Antonette Tionko, attended that tax forum, which lasted past dinnertime.

Cua said at the forum that the DOF’s reform proposals were “timely” and “much awaited,” given that the last comprehensive tax reform was done 30 years ago.

“Hinog na hinog na yung issue (The issue is very ripe) and we will act on it as fast as possible without compromising the quality of the legislation,” he said.

Angara commended the DOF at the forum for coming up with a tax reform package in less than three months into the Duterte administration.

“I have to pay tribute to the DOF for coming up with very comprehensive proposals in Congress in a very short span of time,” said Angara, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Local Government.

Aquino, who also chairs the Senate committee on science and technology, said at the same event that the DOF proposal to lower personal income taxes is not only a revenue issue, but a social justice concern as well.

“Para po sa akin ‘yung (For me, the) personal income tax, it’s more than just a revenue measure, it’s actually for me a social justice measure because again, these brackets were created in 1997,” said Aquino, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Science and Technology.

“And we’re very happy that there’s a lot of openness with the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) and the DOF in terms of pushing for this reform package,” he added.

Dominguez, for his part, expressed his appreciation for the lawmakers’ support for the DOF’s tax reform program.

The Tax Congress at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel was organized by the Center for Strategic Reforms of the Philippines, in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Integrity Initiative, Go Negosyo, Ateneo De Manila University-Graduate School of Business, Association of the Filipino Franchisers Inc. (AFFI), and the Abrea Consulting Group (ACG).

At the end of the forum, the Pledge of Support—it was signed by all business organizations, associations and individuals who are committed to provide a culture of honesty and integrity in paying taxes—was officially handed over to Dominguez.

The Pledge expressed the full support of the signatories to the adoption of a “simpler, fairer and more efficient” tax system that will promote inclusive growth and ultimately benefit small businesses and ordinary employees.

The DOF submitted its proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act last month to the Congress, in line with the new administration’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda that aims to free 10 million Filipinos from poverty and transform the Philippines into an upper middle-income economy by the end of the Duterte presidency in 2022.

In his speech, Dominguez said at the forum that the first tax bill under the comprehensive reform plan was submitted to the House after the DOF’s consultations with members of the Cabinet, legislators, former Secretaries of Finance, prominent economists, stakeholder and business groups, and with various foreign embassies, global financial institutions and joint foreign chambers signifying their support for this proposal.

In one of the House ways and means committee hearings on the tax plan, an economic expert had similarly given his all-out support to this comprehensive tax program.

Vowing his full backing for the tax program, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the plan was much better than the one presented by the previous administration.

“Sir, you have my ardent support, and I’m sure my chairman will have the same…. I would like to congratulate you for your latest tax reform measure. It’s a very good measure,” Salceda told Dominguez at the congressional hearing.

Dominguez then thanked Salceda for his support, saying it was “very heartening” coming from the congressman, who is considered an expert in the field of economics.

Also earlier, a senior economist of the advocacy group Action for Economic Reforms (AER) said the proposed tax reform plan could be a “game changer” that intends not just to generate revenues but to raise enough funds to let the government address the backlog in physical and human capital investments.

AER senior economist Jo-Ann Latuja Diosana said at another tax forum in Makati City that her organization was “very supportive” of the design of the DOF’s tax reform program as it focuses on how to make the current tax system more equitable, efficient, fair and progressive.

“While we are still working on the details, we see a lot of potential in this package and how it can really be a game changer for the country, especially that right now, we face a lot of constraints, specifically in infrastructure and investments in human capital, such as on health and education,” said Diosana at the AER-hosted forum.

“I’d like to also commend the DOF for presenting it in a way that [shows] the objective is not just revenue generation and upgrading of credit ratings. The main objective is really to be able to generate funds to improve the welfare of the Filipino people, and that is really very important to us,” Diosana said.