Marcos Jr. wants tax breaks for MSMEs stricken by pandemic

Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Wednesday that he will push for tax amnesty and tax holiday for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) who were badly-hit by the coronavirus disease pandemic.

"Puwedeng gawin ng pamahalaan yung tinatawag nating tax break. Sasabihin na muna... bawasan natin ang pagkolekta ng buwis para bigyan nang kaunting breathing room itong mga MSMEs," Marcos, presidential aspirant and son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, said over the UniTeam's Metro Manila Online Caravan. UniTeam is the alliance of Marcos and his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

(The government can give a tax break wherein it will halt the collection of taxes to give breathing room to MSMEs.)

"Bukod pa doon siguro yung 'di nakapagbayad nung lockdown, bigyan natin ng tax amnesty... dahil hindi naman puwedeng pilitin na magbabayad ng buwis wala namang kita," he added.

(Aside from this, those who could not pay their taxes during lockdown, we will give them tax amnesty because we can't force them to pay taxes when they don't have income.)

Tax Code violations?

As he made the made the tax break pitch for businesses, Marcos had alleged Tax Code violations himself, which became the subject of petitions before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for his disqualification or cancellation of his certificate of candidacy.

The Comelec Second Division recently junked one of the petitions, while several are still pending in the First Division.

Marcos' camp has also presented a certification from the Bureau of Internal Revenue showing he has paid his tax deficiencies and fines for 1982 to 1985.

Military service

Meanwhile, Duterte, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, said she will push for the Congress to pass a bill that will "make military service mandatory for all 18-year-olds" male and female in the country.

"Nakikita po natin ito sa ibang bansa, sa South Korea, Israel. Nakikita po natin doon sa kanila," she said during the online caravan.

(We are seeing this in other countries such as South Korea.)

"Hindi ROTC lang na isang subject, isang weekend o isang buwan sa isang taon. Dapat lahat kapag  tungtong mo ng 18 years old, you will be given a subsidy, you will be asked to serve our country doon sa ating Armed Forces of the Philippines," Duterte added, referring to the Reserved Officers Training Program.

(Not just ROTC for one subject, that will be conducted in one weekend or one month in one year. Once they reach 18, you will be given a subsidy, you will be asked to serve our country  at the AFP.)

'Executive position'

Duterte once again defended her decision to pick Marcos as her running mate in the 2022 elections, citing that the latter has experience in "executive position."

"'Yung experience po ni Apo BBM na four terms na governor ng Ilocos Norte, one term sa House of Representatives and one term sa Senado. 'Yun po nakita ko na malaking maitutulong niya sa trabaho niya as president of our country," said Duterte.

(His experience in serving four terms as governor of Ilocos Norte, one term at the House, one term at Senate. I have seen that these experiences will help him serve as the president of our country.)

It can be recalled that she opposed initiatives by some of her supporters to push for her tandem with presidential aspirant Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.—LDF, GMA News