Persons with disabilities or PWD’s are now exempt from paying value added tax on certain goods and commodities after President Benigno S. Aquino III signed into law a bill that exempts people with disability from paying the 12-percent vat.
The said bill, authored by Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, will put PWD’s on equal footing with senior citizens who are already exempted from vat payment on top of their 20-percent discount.
The bill was ratified in the house and senate last December and was transmitted to Malacañang on March 2.
Earlier, PWD groups expressed concern that the bill might suffer the same fate as the proposed 2,000-peso pension hike for social security system pensioners, which was vetoed by Mr. Aquino because of its financial implications.
There are about 1.5 million PWD’s in the Philippines, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. (Eagle News Service)