By JONAS ALPASAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – For Filipino teachers, the collected tax from their honoraria as election officers that they hope to be reimbursed is a far cry from the unpaid estate taxes of the Marcos family.
“There is nothing to fret about the proposed reimbursement of the P1.5 billion ($27 million) collected taxes from 700,000 poll workers who served during the last election. If at all, they should be thanked for their service, and this can help them make ends meet amid this crisis we are in,” said Vladimer Quetua, chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers.
Last week, Marcos Jr. said that the possible revenue loss from the proposed tax breaks for teachers who served as election officers are “too substantial an impact to be foregone.”
In the proposed measure unanimously passed by the Lower House last year, the bill will also seek to reimburse the 20-percent tax deducted from the honoraria of those who served as election officers during the last national poll.
Quetua pointed out that the country’s bigger loss is the still unpaid P203 billion ($3.652 billion) estate tax of the Marcoses.
The veto of the bill, said Quetua, “is a cause for celebration for tax evaders and the rich who are enjoying tax holidays.”
How about pay hike for teachers?
Meanwhile, Quetua said there is still no word from Marcos Jr. if there will be pay hikes for Filipino teachers under his term.
In May, then presidential candidate Marcos Jr. said he would push for higher pay for Filipino teachers should he win the elections, adding that they need the support as they are molding young students to be better citizens.
But Quetua pointed out that this was not mentioned in Marcos Jr.’s first state of the nation address.
“As public school teachers, we will not stop in struggling for our rights and welfare,” he said. (RVO) 
