The power to tax NOT power to destroy while this court sits

Taxes may be inherently punitive, but when the fine line between damage and destruction is crossed, the courts must step forth and cut the hangman's noose. Justice Holmes once confidently asserted that ‘the power to tax is not the power to destroy while this Court sits’ and we should very well live up to this expectation not only of the revered Holmes, but of the Filipino people who rely on this Court as the guardian of their rights. At stake is the right to exist and subsist despite taxes, which is encompassed in the due process clause. (G.R. No. 187485. February 12, 2013)