MANILA, Philippines—Proponents of the tax on text messages have put forward a new scheme of pegging the cost of short messaging service (SMS) at 80 centavos each, which would include the 8 centavos tax to be shouldered by telecommunications companies (telcos).

On Tuesday’s hearing of the House ways and means committee, Antique Representative Exequiel Javier, the panel chairman, made this proposal of fixing the rate of text messages to prevent telcos from passing on the tax to consumers.

Javier, in a separate message to INQUIRER.net, said the proposed amendment to the original bill, would give the mobile service providers 72 centavos per text message.

The original proposal under the tax on text bill seeks to collect from telecommunications firms 5 centavos tax for every text message to give the government additional revenues to be used for computer literacy program in all levels of public schools.

The committee earlier approved the 5 centavos tax, but Javier recalled the measure back to the panel for further discussion amid protest from various sectors and from the telcos.

Bayan Muna party list Representative Teodoro Casiño slammed the new proposal, describing it as “more harebrained that the original proposal.”

“In effect, it will increase both the cost of text and the tax to be imposed on it,” he said, after attending the hearing. “The ways and means committee is like a headless chicken trying to impose new taxes on the public without thinking.”

Casiño said he is against any new tax measure at this time when the public is reeling from the economic crisis and from the impact of the calamity last week.