Marcos vetoes bills on transport board, tax exemption for honoraria for poll workers

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has vetoed two measures passed by the previous Congress.

In a statement, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said Marcos vetoed House Bill No. 9030 and Senate Bill No. 1077 or “An Act Establishing the Philippine Transportation Safety Board, Defining its Powers and Functions, and Appropriating Funds Therefore.”

In his veto message, the President said “the functions intended for the aforementioned Safety Board are already being undertaken by different agencies under the Department of Transportation such as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Land Transportation Office, Philippine Coast Guard, Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board, and Maritime Industry Authority as well as the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation.

Marcos said that creating a new body will only “create functional duplication, confusion as to authority, ineffectiveness, and deficiency in the performance of the responsibilities.”

Cruz-Angeles said the President also vetoed the House Bill No. 9652 and Senate Bill No. 2520 or “An Act Exempting from Income Taxation the Honoraria, Allowances, and other Financial Benefits of Persons Rendering Service during an Election Period.

In his veto message, Marcos said that “the measure runs counter to the objective of the government’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program to correct the inequity in the country’s tax system and negate the progressivity of the reforms introduced under RA 10963 or the TRAIN law.”

“Moreover, the studies of pertinent government agencies on the revenue loss is too substantial an impact to be foregone,” the President said. —KG, GMA News