LIBERAL Party vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo said Tuesday she will remain supportive of the proposed measure lowering the income tax rates in the country.
“I am all for it,” Robredo told reporters, adding taxpayers were shouldering the burden of high taxation in the country.
She made the statement even as she admitted having a slim chance of winning the vice presidency being a neophyte in politics.
But she will strive harder to get more exposure to win the hearts of the voters in next year’s elections.
She said winning the second highest post in the land would be an uphill battle.
“It’s everyone’s game. We have seven months to go, but I feel I’m the underdog so I have much work to do,” Robredo said.
She said the issue on taxation was a social justice issue, and that “there should be an equal distribution of wealth.”
Her stance is contrary to the position of President Benigno Aquino III who is against lowering the tax rates, although she says Aquino is not completely opposed to the idea.
She says she shares the position of her running mate, LP standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II, that the tax measure would provide relief to millions of Filipino workers.
Earlier, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Congress would not be able to pass the measure for “lack of time.”
House Bill 4829, or the Tax Reform for Inclusive Growth written by Marikina Rep. Romero Federico Quimbo, head of the House committee on ways and means, proposes a two-step reform in the income taxes imposed on individuals and corporations.
The measure seeks to exempt those earning P180,000 and below annually from paying taxes, while those who annually earn above P180,000 to P500,000 will pay 9 percent.
Meanwhile, the individuals whose yearly income is above P500,000 to P10 million will pay 17 percent, while those with more than P10 million in annual income will have to pay 30 percent.