IlusinessWorld
TUCP calls on DoLE
nets if CITIRA legislation Passes
A MAJoR UNIoN said Sundaythatthe
Department of Labor and Employment
(DoLE) needsto be ready with measures
t0 dealwith job losses lesulting from the
passage of legislation that willbecome
the Corporate lncome Tax and lncentives
Rationalization Act (CITIRA) if siqned.
Trade Union Congress 0fthe Philip-
pines (IUCP) Vice-President Luis M. Cor-
ralsaid that the labor department should
have studies ready to "tellus how many
workers are really going to losetheiriobs
in order to formulate an evidenced-based
intervention ome CITIRA is enforced."
TheIUCP said that economic managers
. need t0 provide safety nets for the 700,000
Filipinos w[o will lose theirjobs once
CITIRA is enacled. The 700,000 estimate
wai given by the Joint Foreign Chambers
(JFO for job losses from clTlRA, which
hopes to rdtionalize incentives anil forms
the second major round of iax reforrns.
clTlM aims to lower the corconte
income tax nte to 20% from 30% bv 2029.
The Philippines has one of the hiqhest corpo-
$ PAg€-st
fot more safety
nte tax mtes in the region, where the aver-
ase is about 22% The bill was unanim0usly
approved by the House of Representatives
last month and is currentlv being discused
at committ€e levbl in the Ssnate.
"Our economlc managers are hell-
bent ln pushing thousands ofworkers and
their families towards thefire by pushing
the approvalofthe CITIRA withoutany :
credible job protection measuresand be-
lievable safety nets for workers affected
by the enforcement ofthissecond tax
reform package measure," !1r corral said
iUcP ;dded that the annual budget of
p50O milllon allocated fordisplaced work-
ers is not enough, addingthatthe govern-
. ment needs to focus on longtime security
of workers after they gei displaced and
not just ptovidlng temPorary aid.
FinanceUndersecretaryKarl Kendrid
i Chua has said that contnry t0 the JFCS
estimate on potential job losses, CITIRA will
eventually pr0duce 1.5 million jobs f rom
business expansion spurred by the reduction
in (orpomte tax mtes. - Gillbn . Coaht
lr"