Once elected, presidential aspirant and labor leader Leody De Guzman will take advantage of the People's Initiative in order to reinforce a measure imposing wealth tax if ever Congress will not pass it.
On Friday, during the KBP's presidential candidate forum, De Guzman bared his plans to impose a 25% wealth tax on millionaires and billionaires which will be used to assist local farmers, the health sector, and to also generate more job opportunities for Filipinos.
"Dapat dumaan 'yan sa Congress, pero kung hindi ipapasa ng Congress ang gagawin natin, gagamitin natin 'yung People's Initiative na pamamaraan para maaprubahan 'yung batas na 'yan na magimpose tayo ng wealth tax sa lahat ng mga mayayaman at doon natin kunin 'yung perang kailangan para sa pagbangon ng ating ekonomiya," he said.
[It should pass Congress, but if it will not be passed by Congress, we will use People's Initiative as the method in passing this law imposing a wealth tax on the rich which we will use to lift our economy.]
People's Initiative (or "PI") is a common appellative in the Philippines that refers to either a mode for constitutional amendment provided by the 1987 Philippine Constitution or to the act of pushing an initiative (national or local) allowed by the Philippine Initiative and Referendum Act of 1987.
In the same forum, the labor leader also vowed to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and use it to finance government programs.
