RA 9337
June 28th, 2005 at 7:55 am (General, National Politics, Economics)
Republic Act 9337 An Act Amending Sections 27, 28, 34, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116, 117, 119, 121, 148, 151, 236, 237 and 288 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as Amended, and for Other Purposes otherwise known as the Expanded Value-Added Tax (VAT) Law. July 1, 2005: take note of this date. This is the day when RA 9337 takes effect.
The most notable consequence of RA 9337 is the lifting of the exemption of Value-Added Tax on petroleum products. By July 1, gasoline prices will go up by 10%. Simply put, there is an increase of about P3 per liter of gasoline. Yes, that’s one plus one plus one. That’s pesos not cents. Compound this with the forever rising prices of petroleum products in the world market, legitimate economists say that local gasoline prices might inevitably reach P50 per liter within the year. Consequently, the prices of all commodities and products will rise. Contrary to what the government wants us to believe, the price of EVERYTHING will increase.
According to the government, the poorest of the poor will not be affected by this since the price of basic commodities, allegedly, will not be imposed with VAT. Among the goods allegedly not affected by this are rice, canned sardines and instant noodles. Not only is the government condemning the “poor” to an unhealthy diet, they have also overlooked that even buyers and sellers of these commodities ride vehicles which run on petroleum products. Yes, everything is affected by RA 9337. And the hardest hit are the poorest of the poor. To begin with, they earn below the minimum wage, if they earn money at all. And even the minimum wage is way below meeting the basic needs of a decent living man. Now they have to contend with higher prices of every product and commodity available.
Moreover, the prices of basic services, most notably of electricity will also rise by 10% or more. So too will water services increase.
Furthermore, professional bills will also increase by 10%. Yes, artistas will have to pay taxes equivalent to 10% of their earnings. More importantly, lawyers, doctors, engineers and other professionals will also have to do so. And of course they could not possibly carry the weight of this 10% tax without passing it on to their clients. Not only will people be undernourished, they will be condemned to a life of minimal health and legal services, if any.
How can the lives of Filipinos be any better if they earn so little and need so much? How can they sleep better at night when their stomachs are empty? How can they be more productive if they have little or no access to healthcare?
Now tell me, does anyone honestly believe that RA 9337 will do the country and its people any good?
Download the full text of RA 9337.
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Albin Gabe said,
June 28, 2005 at 4:31 pm
many of our countrymen knew nothing about how vat works and more so, the expanded version of it which is due for implementation a few days from now. The Arroyo Government is resolved to solving the economic problem by slowly killing Filipinos. The e-vat would not hurt a bit the rich for they have more than enough to sustain themselves and to give for this e-vat. As it is, the vat is hurting the poor and an e-vat will bring more than hurt but extreme torture. The President being an economist knows better than to imppose this e-vat, but she’d rather impose it rather than obliging the corrupt tax collectors to do their work efficiently. Di na baleng mamatay sa gutom ang mahihirap wag lang mawalan ng kita ang mga corrupt. Ganun ba yun?!
Jesus said,
July 1, 2005 at 1:42 am
This is really sad for the country right now. We’re in the middle of a political crisis/embarassment/stupidity then our government passes this expanded VAT law. I just hope GMA’s office is ready to accept more death threats the next following weeks. its hard to gain popularity when youre begging for mercy from people who’s really hungry. and i mean literally hungry.
megalomaniac.
E. Server said,
July 6, 2005 at 1:59 am
I can only hope RA 9337 will help the government cope with its financial troubles. My only worry is that it might just be another cash cow for our corrupt officials to feed on. Tsk tsk. Sana naman hindi.
Hanz perez said,
July 16, 2005 at 11:22 pm
I’m only fifteen, but I’m tring to know what really e-vat is…I’m pretty sure everybody or almost everybody will agree if I’ll say that e-vat is anti poor…. indeed, we are aware of the rising of prices of our needs… though it is constitutional ,… we may not knw.. but this could help in our economy,… let us just wait for further results of e-vat and support our president!!!!
dian so said,
August 15, 2005 at 4:18 am
now our porject is to create a case study of evat and this is my observation base on your post:
i think vat isn’t right, with our present status… our country is getting poor bec. of our “corrupt” officals not bec. of the people they are governing. the gov’t must help the people not torture them!!! everybody is affected not only the poor but the rich ones also… this may help our econmy but think first of the counsequences before implementing the action!!! i just hope that our econmy will progress.. i dnt to see Philippines be sold to other countries bec. of our debt!
Aldriah Sangalang said,
August 17, 2005 at 12:09 am
I can say that EVAT is unconstitutonal. And it should not be implemented. However, it is already implemented that’s why we have no choice. i’m still a high school student but I’m trying to understand how and why EVAT is implemented through a case study given to me in school. I’m hoping that our country will be as progressive as other countries!
danya said,
August 18, 2005 at 2:57 am
tsk tsk. kulang ata ng supporters and E-VAT? hmm??
kaleb said,
August 21, 2005 at 12:04 am
AHHHHHHHHHHHh….I know nothing….I just want the exposure and the popularity….gloria rocks!!!
darya said,
August 31, 2005 at 1:44 am
e-vat? what e-vat?
pam said,
August 31, 2005 at 1:47 am
darya,
you moron, are you out of this world? Its the hottest issue in town!!! try reading the newspaper… ok…
myepinoy said,
September 2, 2005 at 7:08 am
Did you know that this law gives the president the discretion to raise the rate to 12 percent from 10 percent from january 2006.
In simple computation, for every peso of goods and services you bought, there will will be 12 cents added to it. with the penchant of our businessmen to make money, then add another 50% to 100%. at 50%, the total would be Php1.65.
What if they pass all the taxes to us consumers, then a whooping PHP2.00 - 5.00.
This is the reality, living in the third world country.
Hope we don’t wake up one day, killing for one piece of pandesal.
turkish said,
September 4, 2005 at 4:07 am
e-vat is ok, HOWEVER, they should exempt the oil..
ozbax said,
September 17, 2005 at 8:14 pm
Come to think of it, the EVAT can indeed solve fiscal crisis, as it generates more income for the government to use for debt servicing… Our debt is our biggest concern right now, if you think about it, because after all, it’s not OUR money…
Just imagine our future generations not having to pay this extra burden anymore… let’s not be selfish people, let’s work for our FUTURE… And think of the LONG-TERM effects of this implementation.
apple said,
September 18, 2005 at 5:21 pm
well, evat is good, IF, if only we can see where it will go…. i mean, we pay taxes right? then, what do we get in return? better government services? better roads? better government?
duh! if only we can see where these taxes are going, then people would be happy to pay extra d ba?
just my thoughts….
Maria said,
September 19, 2005 at 7:16 am
Ozbax, Yes, I do agree that the EVAT is a good idea and it would be great if we lessened the burden on future Filipinos. ONLY IF, we didn’t have such a great burden now. It’s quite unfair that we have to suffer so much just so we could have an ideal future. The Filipinos now are as important as the Filipinos of the future.
MOREOVER, would we even be having such hesitation if the 100% of the money indeed goes to where it’s supposed to go. I think not.
MacZ said,
September 28, 2005 at 8:17 pm
True enough… the FIlipinos have been suffering much — politically and economically. But, do we want to suffer more because of our failure to come up with better revenue measures? Do we want our children and our children’s children to suffer more just because in our time (which is now) we did not take the risk of suffering just a little more just so we could minimize our foreign debts and ensure a better and richer life for our patrimony? I don’t know… And perhaps, I will never know.
Maria said,
October 1, 2005 at 1:10 am
MacZ, I reiterate, I am only against the RVAT (Reformed Value Added Tax) because the Filipinos are suffering so much right now. I understand the concern for future Filipinos but I don’t think it’s also fair to suffer so much just so they can have a better life. There is such a thing as inter-generational equality. It espouses equality among generations. Thus, I believe that we can be truly concerned and work for the betterment of the next generation only if generation have less burden to carry. Let’s work on this generation first before we work on the future. Because if we don’t, we might not even have a future to speak of.
Jess said,
October 2, 2005 at 10:30 pm
Hi Maria, I really like your blog. I noticed though that you are passionately against the Arroyo government, hehe, are you working for the opposition? Kidding aside, may I ask you then, if we are to work on our generation, how are we supposed to do that with our current political and economic climate? I believe that drastic situations call for drastic measures and I think that RA 9337 falls into that arena. Our country needs this really really bad for us to survive. And there is no such thing as inter-generational equality. Our parents never had what we have right now, nor will we ever have whatever holds for future generations. Macz was right when he said he was concerned about our children’s future. How can you muster even saying that it’s unfair for us to suffer for our children? Our forefathers suffered for us, our parents suffered for us, so why should we differentiate ourselves now? RA 9337 is a risky path to take, but it’s worth a shot to assure us of better lives in the long run. Life is always unfair Maria, it will never be the other way around.
migs said,
October 11, 2005 at 8:54 pm
hi. i read your writings on this blog and i reckon most of you really intend to keep your idealism as a Filipino. I’m a writer of a political magazine and we are currently conducting informal interviews for the thematic question: what do you think of the young politicians of our country today like Rep. Chiz Escudero, Gilbert Remulla, Darlene Antonino and Alan Cayetano in Congress? Do you think they’re doing a good job/ do you think they’re the kind of youth who are being pertained as pag-asa ng bayan? I hope to get your comments on this and if you will allow, we wanted to publish it in our magazine. It is affiliated with the Asian Management Review. It is due to the press on November.
Just in case you wanna share your opinion on the matter, please do email me your riposte indicating your name and blogsite.
Hoping for your favorable response.
Tnx.
migs salva
miguexla@yahoo.com
len said,
November 3, 2005 at 12:35 am
ok sana ang evat, kung hindi lang sana sobrang laganap ang corruption sa atin e di hindi sana masakit sa kalooban natin ang magbayad ng tamang taxes natin. sana makinabang tayong lahat hindi iilan lang.
jess kmg said,
November 7, 2005 at 2:20 am
anong sibasabi ng gobyerno na makaharip ang batas na ito. e kami nga lang mga Dialysis patients ay umaaray dito. Yung ospital na pinagpapagamutan namin ay nag charge na ng EVAT. it is particurly difficult for us part because per dialysis is 2100 pesos. We are required to have a dialysis 3 times a week. ngayon ang 2100pesos namin na bayad ay 2300 na. kung susumahin, karagdagang pasakit nanaman ito para sa amin. monthly ang ginagastos ko para mabuhay ay 25200pesos (2100×3x3=25,200) kung may EVAT pa edi 27,600 na. a difference of 2400 pesos. ang 2400 pesos ay equivalent pa sa isang dialysis o medicines. Pls. spare us, hirap na nga kaming mabuhay, wala namang maitulong ang gobyerno, tapos mag e-EVAT pa. kawawa naman kami. and please naman, bago mag-implement o mag approve ng batas ang mga useless nating gobyerno, pag-isipan muna nila ang kalagayan ng mga hirap sa buhay. (If you want to know the hospital na nag charge ng EVAT pls email me, may kutob kasi ako na mali ang interpretation nila ng batas - another point - poor information campaign)
gaile said,
February 18, 2006 at 6:43 pm
i think evat has done a lot for our economy so far. a drastic increase in the value of the peso has occured. thats something dba? hindi pa ko sure kung tama bang ipagpa2loi ito o itigil na. pero sa ngaun, im leaning towards the “to continue” side..
karen said,
March 2, 2006 at 11:05 pm
i think vat would help r country tobea better one. The government our doing their job to collect more revenue for te people…nden rin kz ntin napa2nsin na may vat pla un ung mga goods n ginagamit ntineh..
Jahana said,
July 8, 2007 at 10:29 pm
i’m tellin you guys evat had become the enemy of the “poor”. The 12% additional for comodities is a lost of money. How can one have a decent life if this evat is slowly killing us? try to think of it….. have a reflection on the arroyo’s administration….