Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda welcomed the House of Representatives' adoption of the Senate's version of the proposed Poll Workers' Tax Exemption Act.
"I am thankful for the House for adopting the Senate’s version of House Bill (HB) No. 9652, which I along with the Committee on Ways and Means authored," said Salceda in a statement Tuesday night, May 31.
"Last weekend, my committee requested the House leadership to adopt the Senate version, since it merely reiterates the House version. That way, we avoided the need for a bicameral conference committee since we are now of one and the same version," said ways and means panel chairman.
Salceda underscored that the measure, if enacted, would be applicable to the May 9 elections and thereafter. This means that board of election inspectors (BEIs) and other poll workers who participated in the just-concluded democratic process could enjoy the sought tax exemption on their honoraria if the bill gets signed before the current administration ends.
"At just around 138.6 million in annualized revenue cost, which I think is very reasonable given the job well done, few exemptions are better deserved," the economist-solon said.
Referring to the May 9 polls, Salceda said: "This was the fastest national election count ever, and much of the credit for the smooth and relatively safe conduct of the polls belongs to the election workers including 650,000 teachers with 319,317 sitting as electoral board members."
"I am hopeful that PRRD (President Duterte) will speedily act on the matter so that we do not need to withhold taxes anymore from the compensation. I think this will be in PRRD’s desk by this week," he said.
President Duterte will step down from office on June 30.
"Thank you to our poll workers for your service and dedication," Salceda added.