Sen. Bam to admin: Listen to Filipino people, review TRAIN law

Senator Bam Aquino urged the government to listen to the Filipino people in light of the latest Pulse Asia survey showing pay hikes and increase in prices as major concerns of the public.

"Pakinggan natin ang hinaing ng mga Pilipinong nabibigatan sa mataas na presyo ng bilihin at hindi sapat na kita," said Sen. Bam, who has visited a number of local communities to hear out their concerns on the rising prices of goods.

The survey conducted by Pulse Asia from March 23 to 28 showed that 50 percent of the respondents mentioned salary increase as the most urgent issue while 45 percent pointed to inflation.

"Sa pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin, sapat ba ang 200 pesos per month na cash transfer ng gobyerno? Panahon na para suriin ang totoong epekto ng TRAIN law at siguraduhing hindi pinapahirap ng gobyerno ang buhay ng mga Pilipino," Sen. Bam stressed.

With this development, Sen. Bam reiterated his call to review Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act as it contributes to the increase in prices of goods and services that burdens Filipinos, especially the poor.

Recently, Sen. Bam filed Senate Resolution No. 704, urging the appropriate Senate Committees to conduct an inquiry on the TRAIN's inflationary impact and effect on the economy, particularly the P7 and P2.50 excise tax increase on gasoline and diesel, respectively.

Sen. Bam also filed Senate Resolution No. 597, urging the appropriate Senate committee to scrutinize the implementation of the unconditional cash transfer to ensure that it is sufficient to cover the increase in prices of goods and other services.

In his resolution, Sen. Bam said the Department of Finance assured lawmakers that TRAIN's impact on inflation would not be more than 0.7 percent.

However, latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the country's inflation rate for March hit 4.3 percent.