Minority senators call for suspension, rollback of excise tax on fuel

Aside from suspending excise tax on fuel, opposition senators also want a rollback of the levy to the December 31, 2017 rates.

On Wednesday, six minority senators introduced these proposals through Joint Resolution No. 15.

The six are Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon and Senators Francis Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Antonio Trillanes, and Leila de Lima.

In the resolution, the senators sought to suspend the excise tax on fuel under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law and mandate the rollback of levy on fuel to December 31, 2017 rates.

They also called on their colleagues to take a unified stand on suspending the excise tax on fuel.

In the joint resolution, the minority senators stressed the need for the urgent intervention of the Congress to mitigate the inflationary effects of rising fuel prices by suspending the increases in excise tax on fuel under RA No. 10963.

“We are hopeful that the Senate will take a unified stance on suspending the excise tax on fuel for the millions of Filipinos burdened with the rising prices of goods,” they said in a statement.

The senators expressed hope that their colleagues would support their proposal, noting that President Rodrigo Duterte himself said that the government would look into it.

“Napilitan na ang Pangulo na pag-isipan ito. Ipahayag na natin agad-agad na suportado ng Senado ang pagtigil ng excise tax sa petrolyo,” they said.

(The President is forced to think about this. Let us convey immediately that the Senate supports stopping the excise tax on petroleum.)

“Halos isang taon na naghihirap ang mga pamilya sa krisis natin sa presyo. Kailangan na natin ito pagtulungan at trabahuin,” they added.

(It has been almost a year that families are suffering due to the crisis with rising prices. We need to help them and work on it.)

Since the implementation of the Train law on January 1, 2018, the senators pointed out that gasoline prices have already increased by as much as P10.50, diesel prices by P12.00 and kerosene by P14.12.

Inflation, for its part, has gone up from beyond the government’s target of 2 to 4 percent, to 6.7 percent in September, they further noted.

With prices of oil in the world market breaching the $80 per barrel barrier and with the scheduled additional P2 levy on fuel in January 2019, the senators said, there is a pressing need to suspend the excise tax on fuel.

“Magkaisa sana ang Senado para bigyan ng ginhawa ang mga Pilipino (We hope that the Senate will unite to help Filipinos prosper),” they stressed. /je