MANILA -- It will be "difficult" to pass the second tranche of tax reforms this year, as the midterm elections loomed and with Congress mired in leadership uncertainty, a senator said Friday.

Package 2 of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN 2, which aims to rationalize fiscal incentives, was endorsed to lawmakers by President Rodrigo Duterte during his State of the Nation Address last Monday.

As the 2019 elections near, "you cannot have hearings, no one goes to Congress, we don't have session, that's a factor to consider," said Sen. Sonny Angara, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

"There's also uncertainty in the House, the leadership so its difficult... I think we need to take time to get a consensus among the senators as to this bill" he said.

The House of Representatives leadership is being reorganized after former President and Pampanga Rep Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took over as speaker in what her critics described as a coup.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno pushed for TRAIN 2 on Thursday, likening unnecessary incentives to pork barrel.