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NewsTranscript
00:00Senator Rafi Tulfo is now proposing a travel tax on all flights in the economy class.
00:06That's a good thing and we have other issues to discuss with Senator Tulfo.
00:10Good morning, Senator. This is Maris and we are live on Unang Balita.
00:14Good morning to you, Maris. Good morning.
00:18Good morning. First of all, you are proposing a travel tax exemption for domestic and international flights.
00:25To all of us.
00:27It's only for international flights because of the travel tax.
00:30I want to impose a travel tax for those who are going abroad.
00:34For me, that's unconstitutional and anti-poor.
00:39I am imposing that for now.
00:42First, there is no problem for our passengers who are going abroad.
00:46At the same time, it's a big saving.
00:49So far, how big is the chance that this will pass the law, Senator?
00:54Based on our discussions with other lawmakers.
00:58My fellow Senators, I think I will get a majority vote from them.
01:04It will depend on Malacanang if it's favorable because after we vote in the Senate,
01:12it will be up to Malacanang for the Executive to decide, especially if he agrees to sign or veto it.
01:21All right. We understand Senator that this travel tax is anti-poor.
01:26But this travel tax will also go to the development of tourism, tourism-related courses in colleges.
01:32How can those programs be funded if the travel tax will be a big loss?
01:36But I want to clarify first, aside from anti-poor for me,
01:42This is contrary to our 1987 Constitution, Article 3, Section 6 of our Bill of Rights,
01:51which states that every Filipino has the right to travel and there should be no impediments whatsoever to their travel,
01:58aside from reasons like national security, public health, and dangers to the public.
02:06Those are the things that are said there, exceptions.
02:10Now, if there is a tax, those will become impediments, financial impediments for those who will travel abroad.
02:18That's why I want to remove that so that the misinterpretation of our law will be corrected,
02:28especially if the PD 1183 of 1977, which was issued by former President Marcos Sr. is violated in our 1987 Constitution.
02:42That's one. The second thing for me, why should our countrymen pay taxes, especially our ordinary countrymen who are saving and want to travel abroad.
02:53Now, the tax issue became an impediment for them to travel abroad.
02:59So we understand that Senator. But if ever, where will you get the funds supposedly for the development of tourism and tourism-related courses in your college?
03:11That's a good question. That's why in the bill that I will draft, those who are in the economy class are exempted from paying taxes.
03:26Now, those who are in the business class and first class, they will continue to pay taxes, but it's no longer taxed, it's called luxury tax.
03:35At the moment, the income is still continuous. We will go to the TSI and the TSI distributes it to our government as aid.
03:45So they still receive money. If it's not enough, we can look for a budget from other departments, just don't violate the law.
03:53Because in order to earn money and have funds, some departments of our law will violate the law. I don't think that's right.
04:02It's clear. Senator, you also want to suspend the toll hike this August. Did you talk to the Toll Regulatory Board about that and what did they say?
04:12Yes. TRB said that their board will talk about it. But I said that if I heard that it needs to be suspended because of the high readability rate of our RFID stickers.
04:29Maybe that's why, Ma'am Maris, you've been to one of our toll plazas, Skyway. Maybe that's why the traffic is high. That's the reason, the high readability of the RFID stickers.
04:43Why would they raise it while their service is low? That's why we're using Skyway to save time, even if it's expensive.
04:52Now the service is high. That's why I said, before you raise it, improve your service first.
04:57All right. Did you give a timeline of when the toll companies will fix it and when they will separate the RFID?
05:04It should be on August 20, if I'm not mistaken. Although NLEC was approved in June, their rate was allowed to increase.
05:15But this SLEX and STTEX is on August 20. That's why I said to suspend it first. They said that the board will talk about it and I said it's not allowed.
05:25They will talk about it, but I will not allow you to raise it when the problems are not fixed. Aside from the traffic, there are also flooding in our expressways.
05:39You noticed that. It's just a little rain, so they don't have proper drainage. Aside from the flooded roads, I said it's not allowed.
05:48That's why your service is bad. Now, you want to raise your toll rate.
05:54If the timeline you mentioned is not reached, will you fix it or how will you fix it if the RFID and service of the toll companies are still in violation?
06:06They will answer us. We will look into their mistakes every day until they are ill-treated, if you will.
06:18We will break their ties and they will pay for their wrongdoings.
06:24All right. Thank you very much Senator Rafi Tulfo for your time and for the information you gave us this morning. God bless.
06:31Thank you very much. Good morning.
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