MANILA, Philippines - Presidential candidate and Olongapo City Councilor John Carlos “JC” de los Reyes promised tax cuts to improve the quality of living of poor Filipinos.

The Expanded Value-Added Tax (E-VAT) should be lowered because “the poor are having a hard time,” de los Reyes said at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) presidential forum on Monday. 

Seven out of 9 invited presidential candidates were asked about whether taxes should be lowered or increased during their first year in office if elected President on May 10.

De los Reyes did not elaborate on his proposed decrease in the 12% E-VAT currently being implemented by the government. 

The 12% E-VAT implementation started January 2006.

De los Reyes said that he would focus on lowering E-VAT on electricity, food and water.

Aside from E-VAT, he said he would study how to decrease income taxes of those providing basic services namely teachers and soldiers, and minimum wage earners. 

“I am not too excited in increasing taxes,” he said. 

Programs to benefit poor

In his first 100 days in office, de los Reyes said he would focus on health care, education, labor, and peace and order. 

“I would like to have affordable health medicines in all barangay health centers in the country,” he said.

De los Reyes also said that he would push for a values-based education program in schools.

“I would focus on establishing a nation of character that would reflect political integrity, social stability, high market [value] and technological competitiveness and economic progress,” he said. 

The Ang Kapatiran standard-bearer said there is a need to review of the labor code because of rampant labor contractualization, where workers no longer enjoy security of tenure.

“I would study the on-going rampant contractualization and I would need to address the problem of contractualization—which is, of course, the labor code,” he said.

In order to address the problem of peace and order in the country, de los Reyes reiterated his stand for a total gun ban.

“I would implement a total gun ban not only on election period but I would study the total gun ban after [elections],” he said.

He said that the gun ban would be “comprehensive, integrated and holistic.”

“It cannot be an idealistic approach. I would have to study the laws where local government officials appoint police directors and retired generals setting up police agencies,” he said.

“Once you remove the guns from public places—that is the first step to peace and order, especially in the country side, and especially in Mindanao,” he said.

Anti-VFA policy

De los Reyes also said that he is against the United States military presence in Mindanao . 

“The privilege speech of Senator Santiago is worth considering when we talk about the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA),” he said.

Santiago earlier assailed the VFA for allowing the US military to stay not just for short visits but for a long time.

He questioned why the agreement is called VFA, indicating that the word "visiting" may have been included in it to sugarcoat the deal. “Particularly, why is it that in the Philippines we call it the VFA but in other countries they call the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)?”

Other countries that host US military presence call the accords SOFAs. 

“Ten years is not visiting anymore,” he said, agreeing with sentiments earlier expressed by presidential aspirant and Senator Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal. (Read more: ‘Gibo’ says RP should have more VFAs)

Will re-open ‘Hello Garci’ scandal

De los Reyes promised to reopen the “Hello Garci” scandal, among other corruption allegations against the president. He said these controversial issues must be resolved. “We have to have a closure to go on,” he said.

The “Hello Garci” scandal involves leaked wiretapped conversations on vote rigging allegedly involving President Arroyo and former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

“It is something we say, now we have to do it (investigate on corruption allegations against the President),” he said.

He likened the reopening of the Hello Garci scandal that erupted in 2005 to a Filipino saying: “Kung sinong hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa kanyang paroroonan (If you do not know where you come from, you cannot go to where you are headed).” 

De los Reyes expressed disbelief that then opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. "did not get even a single vote in Maguindanao” in the 2004 elections.

“If this is the way we conduct elections in our country, we might as well forget our future, forget the next generation,” he said.

He said he is disgusted with the cheating, and that one of the reasons why he is running is because he feels “for the Filipino youth.”

“If there is one major problem, it is the apathy, hopelessness and helplessness of the youth,” he said. 

De los Reyes said that it is the youth’s distrust in the government that draws them to go abroad for “greener pastures.”