AS newly appointed Finance Secretary Ralph Recto has set lofty goals for the department, an economic think tank told the former lawmaker that such claim can only be made possible with the imposition of wealth.

Rector said that his first order of business would be prioritizing the collection of some P4.3 trillion taxes next year.

This he said could definitely boost the government coffers.

But the IBON executive director Sonny Africa said that unless such a measure is done, the burden would again fall to the poor and middle classes.

Africa noted that the target would be difficult to achieve without revamping the tax system itself.

"Binabawasan 'yung mga buwis sa malalaking kumpanya at sa mayayamang pamilya, at ang pampuno nila [nanggagaling] sa ordinaryong Pilipino. Pati 'yung mga [gumagamit] ngayon ng plastic bag, digital services, Motor Vehicle User's Charge, 'yung middle class ang magbabalikat niyan. Pandagdag 'yung sa matamis na inumin, maging sa alkohol... Ang pinapatawan ng buwis, hindi yung kita o yaman, kundi yung konsumo," Africa said.

He renewed calls to tax the country's richest 1%.

"Sa tax sa yaman ng bilyonaryo ang laki ng kikitain," Africa said.

According to their estimates, he said the government would be able to collect half a billion pesos yearly from the nearly 3,000 Filipino billionaires, who have a cumulative wealth of P8.1 trillion.

"Kung kailangan ng gobyerno ng kita, dagdagan ang buwis ang mayayaman para naman mabuhat ang buwis na binabayaran ng mahihirap," Africa said.