The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has submitted to the Office of the President a memorandum containing items recommended for line-item veto under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2018 and the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.
According to Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, the DBM has submitted to the President a list of items under the GAA and TRAIN recommended for line-item veto, but has yet to receive a reply from the Office of the President.
“We have submitted the draft of the veto message to the President, and as of today have not received yet the veto message. Surely, there will be some items, although we cannot tell you now which items will be recommended for the veto. And that is also true for the TRAIN, there will be some items that will be vetoed,” Diokno told reporters in a news briefing on Wednesday.
“I cannot give you the specifics, it’s a very long memo to the President,” he added. On Tuesday, President Duterte signed into law the P3.7-trillion national budget for 2018 and the first package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program or the TRAIN.
According to the DBM, the 2018 budget “fulfills the President’s most sought-after promises”, such as free tuition, free irrigation, doubling of salaries of military and uniformed personnel and the rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City.
“There will be line-item vetoes. The Constitution says that, in the case of budget, tax and tariff, the President can exercise his right for line-item veto,” he said.
Diokno said that, once the President approves the items in the memo, changes can be included in the final publication of the GAA. The TRAIN provides for PIT exemptions for the first P250,000 of taxable income, along with other significant PIT cuts for other tax brackets, which also provides Filipino taxpayers with “much-needed relief” after 20 years of no adjustment on the rates, according to the finance chief. According to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, the entire first package of the TRAIN will yield revenue gains at an estimated P130 billion, while the PIT reductions will enable the government to return around P150 billion in the form of tax relief to the Filipinos.