MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday downplayed as 鈥減ure lip service鈥� President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 request to Congress to pass a general tax amnesty bill that would lift bank secrecy for fraud cases.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 pure lip service! Ni ayaw nga pumirma ng waiver nung nabisto sya na may mahigit 2Bn (billion) pesos sa bangko,鈥� the staunch Duterte critic said in a statement.
鈥淪ige lang, in time, once you鈥檙e out of power, mailalabas na lahat yan at makikita na ng taongbayan kung gaano ka kakurakot,鈥� the senator added.
READ: Trillanes signs waiver, dares Duterte to open bank accounts
READ: Palace: Ill-gotten wealth accusation of Trillanes vs Duterte 鈥榓n old tune鈥�
Duterte earlier sent a letter to the House of Representatives saying a general amnesty without the lifting of bank secrecy for fraud could 鈥渃reate an environment ripe for future tax evasion鈥� with the government incurring 鈥渓ong term substantial revenue loss.鈥�
搁贰础顿:听Duterte asks Congress to pass general tax amnesty bill lifting bank secrecy
鈥淕iven these, I ask Congress to pass another general tax amnesty bill that includes the lifting of bank secrecy for fraud cases, the inclusion of automatic exchange of information, and safeguards to ensure that asset or net worth declarations are truthful,鈥� Duterte wrote in a letter dated Feb. 14.
鈥淲ith these provisions, the general tax amnesty will meet both its tax administration and revenue purposes,鈥� he added.
This came after the Chief Executive vetoed several provisions of the recently-signed Tax Amnesty Act that seeks to provide amnesty for delinquent taxpayers. /cbb
READ: President partially vetoes tax amnesty bill