House Deputy Speaker and Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto (Facebook)

Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto is asking President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to certify as urgent the House measure extending the deadline of the estate tax amnesty for another two years.

Recto, a deputy speaker in the House of Representatives, was referring to House Bill (HB) No. 7409. The lead author of the bill is House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“A one-sentence letter from the President supporting a one-line bill will make this a reality,” Recto said.

The former Senate President Pro Tempore said the extension is an “act of kindness” to senior citizens whose vulnerability during the 30 months the pandemic raged prevented them from availing of the amnesty originally provided under Republic Act (RA) No.11213 or the Tax Amnesty Act of 2019.

“Halimbawa, marami sa ating mga kababayan na nasa ibang bansa na nais sanang ayusin ang namana nilang ari-arian ang hindi makauwi dahil sa matagal at mahigpit na lockdown (For example, a lot of our countrymen abroad who wanted to attend to the properties they inherited back home couldn't do so because of the extended and strict lockdown),” Recto said.

“Putting a deceased loved one’s properties in order was also a casualty of Covid,” noted Recto.

“If government had extended 'lifelines, bailouts in the billions' to distressed commercial firms during the pandemic, then why should not the same compassion be extended to families, more so that it won’t cost the government anything?” he asked.

Recto said people will “save billions while government will earn billions” by simply moving the June 14, 2023 deadline to June 14, 2025.