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

House Deputy Speaker and Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto has a simple request for his former colleagues in the Senate: pass a counterpart bill extending the availment of estate tax amnesty for an extra two years.

Recto, in a statement Sunday, May 7, said he believes his “former classmates can pass what is a simple bill” without having to wait for President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to certify the measure as urgent.

The former Senate President Pro Tempore made the call a day before the scheduled resumption of sessions in both the House of Representatives and Senate following a lengthy five-week summer recess.

But both chambers of Congress technically only have 12 session days before they adjourn sine dine on June 2. Sessions take place only from Monday to Wednesday.

Under the existing estate tax amnesty law, the period to avail of the benefits expires on June 14, “which means the clock is ticking,” said Recto, who served as senator for a total of 18 years.

This notwithstanding, the Batangueño expressed hope of an extension “because in legislation, a month is an eternity. Kaya kayang-kaya ipasa (Passage is very doable).”

Although tax bills originate from the House, the Senate, in anticipation of House action, can start tackling the bill, so that when the House bill arrives, the Senate version is now primed for floor debates.

House Bill (HB) No.7409, which seeks to move the deadline of the estate tax amnesty to June 14, 2025, has already hurdled the House Ways and Means Committee.

This paves the way for plenary debates in the lower chamber, “whose outcome, its passage, is a certainty,” Recto said.

He hailed the House bill as an improved version of the estate tax amnesty law as it covers deaths which occurred on or before Dec. 31, 2021, amending the cut off period of Dec. 31, 2017 in Republic Act (RA) No.11213.

This means that deaths resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic would get covered.