SENATE Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Friday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent a bill that will clarify the taxability of proprietary educational institutions.

“I call on the President to certify as urgent Senate Bill 2272 and its counterpart measure in the House of Representatives which seeks to clarify that the qualifier non-profit under Section 27B of the National Revenue Code only applies to hospitals and not to proprietary educational institutions,” Drilon said.

At the same time, the senator lauded the Bureau of Internal Revenue for suspending the implementation of its order imposing 25 percent tax on private schools.

“I am elated that the BIR heeded our call. This affirms our position that the withdrawn BIR regulation erred in redefining an educational institution for taxation purposes,” Drilon said.

The senator explained that the Corporate Recover and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Reform law aimed to relieve educational institutions of the burden of paying taxes during the pandemic and it never intended to change the tax regime applicable to them.

Drilon called on the Senate to immediately pass SB 2272 filed by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara.

“The Senate must prioritize this measure before we tackle the 2022 national budget. I urge that it be referred to the floor for deliberation immediately,” he said.