Vice President Jejomar Binay, who in his advertisements has presented himself as the face of the masses, has promised to eliminate poverty and remove income tax for a certain segment of the population if he is elected president.

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Binay addressed an audience mostly from the slums for his proclamation rally in Welfareville compound, Mandaluyong City on Tuesday.

Police estimates showed that the crowd swelled from 18,000 up to 20,000 peaking at 5 p.m., Chief Inspector Dominador Ignacio of the Mandaluyong police said.

READ: Binay chooses Mandaluyong to be with the urban poor

In his speech, Binay said poverty remained pervasive even after six years of the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.

“Malapit nang matapos ang anim na taon, ngunit imbes na mawala o mabawasan man lang, mas lalo pang dumami ang mahihirap,” Binay said.

Binay said the administration’s “tuwid na daan” had left millions of Filipinos still impoverished.

“At sa gitna ng pag-unlad ng iilan sa sinasabing tuwid na daan, milyun-milyong kababayan pa rin natin ang walang trabaho, lugmok sa hirap, kapos sa pag-aaral, kulang ang pambili ng gamot at araw-araw ay kumakalam ang sikmura,” he said.

Binay vowed to eliminate poverty by improving the conditional cash transfer program, giving free education to two million students from public school, offering free medicine for the poor, and removing the income tax of those earning below P30,000.

“Ang lahat ng iyan, at higit pa, ang gagawin natin sa panahon ng aking panunungkulan,” he said.

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He also said he would focus on stamping out smuggling and improving tax collections instead of closing the doors on scrapping income tax.

“Sa mga nagsasabing hindi ito pwede mangyari dahil malulugi ang pamahalaan, simple lang ang sagot ko: Bilyon-bilyon ang nawawala sa pera ng bayan sa smuggling. Bilyun-bilyon ang nawawala dahil hindi wasto ang pangongolekta ng buwis sa mga mayayaman. Bilyun-bilyon ang nasasayang dahil sa hindi wastong paggastos ng mga departamento ng pamahalaan,” Binay said.

“Yan ang dapat asikusahin, hindi ang pagpapahirap sa mga manggagawang Pilipino,” Binay said.

President Aquino thumbed down a proposal to cut income tax, because it would result in a revenue hole in government. This resulted in a backlash on the candidacy of his successor Mar Roxas, who said the proposal needs to be studied thoroughly first instead of being used for politics.

Binay said he would get his strength in his bid for the presidency from the poor.

“Sa inyo ako kukuha ng lakas upang itaguyod ang isang pamahalaan na tunay na naglilingkod sa masang Pilipino,” he said. RC

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