SENATE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 

Senate Committee on Ways and Means in the Fourteenth Congress is chaired by Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero.  The Committee has 15 members, including the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman.   

The committee is considered one of the most powerful and important committees in the Senate, due to the breadth of its legislative jurisdiction, i.e., all matters relating to revenue generally; taxes and fees; tariffs; loans and other sources and forms of revenue (Sec. 13(5), Rule X, Rules of the Senate).

Its primary function is to source revenues to meet national expenditure and to forward the objectives of economic policy  through the imposition of taxation. In exercising its taxing and revenue-raising powers, the Committee is guided by the following fundamental principles in taxation, to wit: (a) taxation must be uniform; (b) taxes, fees, charges and other impositions must be equitable and based as far as practicable on the taxpayer’s ability to pay; (c) must not be unjust, excessive, oppressive, or confiscatory; and (d) there is no taxation without representation.

The Committee, however, is guided by the limitation explicitly provided under Section 24, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, viz:

 “All appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of public debt, bills of local application, and private bills shall originate exclusively from the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments.”

as interpreted by the Supreme Court in its ruling in the case of Tolentino vs. Secretary of Finance and Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and reiterated in the case of ABAKADA vs. Executive Secretary Ermita.

LEGISLATIVE POLICY AND AGENDA:

When Senator Escudero took the helm of the committee, he already laid down his policy as chairman that he will not allow any imposition of new taxes. He believes that existing tax measures are already sufficient for the government’s revenue collection mechanism.  What the committee plans to achieve is to eliminate inefficiencies and make priorities in the matter of raising revenues for the nation without increasing taxes by steering all the government’s revenue collecting agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs into strengthening and intensifying its enforcement schemes as well as reinforcing its tax administration to plug and avert leakages.

During the first six working months of the committee in the 14th Congress, out of the 61 bills and resolutions referred to the committee, 58 have already been heard and acted upon, most of which are those that seek to expand tax exemptions for senior citizens, for the individual taxpayer, for the family home. The repeal of the extended value added tax (e-vat) was also tackled early on at the onset of the committee’s constitution. Presently, it has already produced 2 committee reports.

The committee will continue to keep the mill grinding in as far as disposition of bills referred are concerned. It is the committee’s desire to leave no backlogs in all of its legislative duties.