Hayy...may dumating na good news ngayon...

The Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of the expanded Value-Added Tax Law (E-VAT) Friday evening, abs-cbnNEWS.com learned.

At the same time, the high tribunal set the oral arguments for the petition to permanently halt the implementation of the new tax law on July 26.

In a five-page decision, the Court gave the respondents Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Guillermo Parayno 10 days to submit their comments on the petition against the E-VAT law.

The high court voted 13-2 in favor of the TRO. The two dissenting votes came from Chief Justice Hilario Davide and Justice Reynato Puno, arguing that the collection of taxes is the life blood of the nation.

The decision orders the government to immediately halt the collection of E-VAT until a ruling is issued by the Supreme Court.

Associate Justices Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, J. Antonio Carpio and Renato Corona relayed their decisions from Madrid, Spain.

Before the TRO, business establishments affected by the E-VAT have already adjusted their prices to reflect their additional tax payments.

On Friday, oil companies increased their prices by at least P3 per liter while the Philippine Airlines adjusted their ticket prices for local flights and cargo by 10 percent.