SENATOR Joel Villanueva said that clarifying an ambiguous provision in the country’s tax code on private educational institutions will serve as a lifeline for thousands of schools forced to close or reduce operations at the height of the Covid19 pandemic.

Villanueva said Senate Bill 2407 seeks to ease the tax burden on thousands of educational institutions reeling from the impact of the pandemic, which already forced 800 schools to close.

The bill seeks to amend Section 27 of the revenue code to make it clear that educational institutions were qualified for a tax relief equivalent to 1 percent of preferential or corporate income tax.

“Hindi po natin maikakaila na isa sa mga lubhang tinamaan ng pandemya ang sektor ng edukasyon. Sinusuportahan po natin ang agarang pagpasa ng Senate Bill No. 2407 dahil maraming trabaho at kabuhayan po ang maililigtas nito sa sektor ng edukasyon sa bansa,” Villanueva stressed.

Senator Christopher ‘Bong’ Go said the amendment will ensure the correct application of the provision and save many schools, colleges and universities from closure.

“Malaking pasakit ang naidulot ng pandemya sa ating ekonomiya. Isa sa mga lubhang tinamaan dito ay ang mga private educational institutions dahil pansamantalang itinigil ang mga face-to face-classes. Napilitan pong mag-invest ang ating mga paaralan ng napakalaking halaga para sa mga online learing systems, upang matugunan lang ang pangangailangan ng ating mga estudyante,” said Go.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto also expressed support for the measure saying private schools are Covid19 casualties too.

He explained that the type of bailout through tax relief is more economical on the part of the government than letting private schools close, as the latter would trigger a migration of learning refugees to public schools whose education must now be shouldered by taxpayers.

The annual budgetary cost of educating one SUC student was P80,000 a year ago. For basic education, it is about P21,000.

“This is clearly a case of the state foregoing revenues so it may not incur far larger expenditures later. This pandemic is creating a lost generation of learners whose reduced ability to earn in the future portends to be one of the greatest economic losses in our history,” Recto said.