A SENIOR legislator expects to conclude by January the bicameral conference committee session harmonizing the bills on the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.

Representative Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, said the bicam’s “internal target” is to wrap up its proceedings next month, in the course of which the House contingent hopes to achieve a more “fair” version of the measure that addresses the House’s concerns.

Mr. Salceda said in a statement that the House contingent to the bicam has been instructed by Speaker Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco to seek a “fair” version of CREATE. He did not elaborate.

Mr. Salceda has said that the Senate version of the CREATE bill largely reflects the Executive branch’s input, including a 5% across-the-board CIT (corporate income tax) cut for all resident corporations.

He warned in the statement that the bicam process will require significant give-and-take between the two chambers.

“The concerns of the body can only be remedied by amendments,” he said, adding that the concerns expressed about the draft measure “are not hostile” to sound taxation principles.

“We will take the bicameral conference committee as an opportunity to improve the version,” Mr. Salceda said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza