Magpa-Pasko na, wala pa ring implementing rules?

Seven months after it was signed into law, Republic Act 10754, which grants persons with disabilities (PWDs) goods discounts and tax breaks, remains in limbo after the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) has yet to be issued by a multi-agency body drafting it.

Despite the delay, one of the bill’s authors, Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto, said he is not yet giving in to “conspiracy theory” that the IRR is being deliberately withheld due to the plan of the government’s economic managers to repeal all tax discounts of PWDs.

“I cling to the belief that the better angels of man’s nature will prevail in the end. That compassion would triumph over cold fiscal numbers,” Recto said.

“I appeal once again that the IRR of Republic Act 10754 will be out soon. It’s the missing link in its full implementation,” Recto said.

Signed by President Aquino on March 23, the law grants “a raft of tax breaks and other benefits for PWDs and their caregivers,” Recto said.

But without the IRR, which defines how its provisions will be “implemented, availed of, executed,”RA 10754 “is like a new car which sits in the garage but can’t be driven out yet,” the senator noted.

Under the said law, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will lead the drafting of the IRR, a task the Aquino administration failed to do in its last months in office.

Other agencies in the drafting body are Department of Health (DOH), Department of Finance (DOF) and the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) to formulate the law’s IRR.

The release of the IRR is seen by affected entities, like drug stores, as a requisite before they can carry out the provision of the law discounting purchases made by PWDs.

Recto, however, countered that “there ought to be no delay because there is an existing template, the one granted to senior citizens, insofar as discounts on purchases are made.”

The law, he explained, merely grants to PWDs benefits already enjoyed by seniors, “so we’re not starting from scratch. There is a tried system already in place. From points of sale sa stores, may sistema na.”

Although the law contains the provision “that failure of the concerned agencies to promulgate the IRR shall not prevent the implementation of this Act upon its effectivity,” Recto said “for purposes of clear implementation, there is still no substitute for a set of written implementing rules.”

“The automatic implementation clause kicks in only when there is deliberate move to deny or delay the release of the IRR,” Recto said.

“Unless I have seen a written obituary from the DOF and the DSWD that they’re burying it, I am not giving up. No civil servant would like to be remembered as undertakers of this measure,” he said.

RA 10754 exempts PWDs from all sales taxes on certain goods and services, like transport fares, medicines, medical and dental services and laboratory fees, raising the discount to 32 percent.

It also grants a P25,000 annual income tax deduction to relatives within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, who are caring for and living with a PWD.

RELATED ARTICLES:

• 20 AUG 2016: Before pitching new taxes, Palace must first issue rules on new PWD, balikbayan box laws

• 22 JUL 2016: Lack of IRR bogs down PWD law’s implementation

• 06 MAY 2016: Recto: Discount para sa PWD inutil ‘pag walang IRR

• 05 MAY 2016: Recto twits gov’t: Proc of new prexy might come ahead of rules for new PWD law

• 06 APR 2016: Recto: Mabilis na paglabas ng IRR ng bagong PWD law, ipinangako ni Dinky

• 06 APR 2016: Recto: Dinky vows fast release of PWD law’s IRR

• 30 MAR 2016: Recto: P25,000 tax break for PWD caregivers

SENATE BILLS/AUTHORED LAWS:

• 21 JUL 2016: Senate Bill No. 796: Mandatory Philhealth Coverage for All PWDs Act of 2016

• 23 MAR 2016: Republic Act No. 10754: Additional Benefits for Persons With Disabilities (PWD)

SPONSORSHIP SPEECH:

• 10 AUG 2015: Co-sponsorship Speech on the Expanded PWD Benefits Bill