The People’s Coalition Against Regressive Taxation (PCART) yesterday urged President  Aquino to veto the sin tax bill and prevent the catastrophic economic effects of his signing into law of the sin tax bill.
In another rally in Mendiola, the militant group criticized the recently approved provisions by the bicameral committee meeting for its abandonment of the safety nets meant to cushion the impacts of the sin tax bill seen to critically affect the jobs and livelihoods of those relying on sin products.
PCART insisted that the Aquino government is very much aware that a vicious institutional injustice is about to be committed against millions of Filipino workers, farmers, vendors and sari-sari store owners once the bill is finally enacted but the President still pushed through with the IMF-dictated tax measure.
According to Gie Relova, secretary-general of the militant Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino-National Capital Region-Rizal chapter, “Aquino did not only intentionally hand out the death warrants of our  jobs and livelihoods, but also sent the dreams and ambitions of our children to the gallows. He had every reason to veto the sin tax bill and make Christmas celebration of our children turn from glum to merry but more importantly, he has to veto it before the economy turns from ugly to uglier.”
“Totally unacceptable!” said Anthony Barnedo, National Capital Region-Rizal secretary-general of the urban poor federation Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralita ng Lungsod (KPML-NCRR).
“If the sin tax bill is Aquino’s idea of a perfect Christmas, then he’s daang matuwid is a complete sham. If a regime that legalizes contractual labor, privatizes public hospitals, abandons the right the right to education, demolishes communities without a habitable relocation sites and now suppresses the way we make a living, then logic dictates that the unbearable government such as Aquino’s is just as abusive and exploitative as its laws,” Bernedo added.
The coalition vowed to continue the struggle against an unjust and anti-poor decree such as Aquino’s regressive sin tax law even during the electoral period wherein they are to launch a national negative campaign against those who supported the Malacañang-masterminded massacre of jobs and livelihoods.