Senators urge Duterte to suspend excise taxes on fuel

Seventeen senators are seeking the support of President Rodrigo Duterte in suspending a further increase in excise on diesel, gasoline and other petroleum products for 2019 and 2020, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said in Bacolod City on Sunday.

An additional excise of P2 per liter will take effect in January under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.

Zubiri said suspending further increases in fuel excise under the TRAIN law was aimed at reining in inflation, which soared to a nine-year high of 6.7 percent in September.

Food prices

In Legazpi City, Zubiri said on Saturday that the high prices of goods, particularly rice, fish, meat and vegetables, were caused by the spike in fuel prices.

The senators pointed out that prices of Dubai crude, the Asian benchmark, reached $84.41 on Oct. 4, practically double the oil prices when the TRAIN law was enacted on Dec. 19, 2017.

Under the TRAIN law, the next increase in excise on fuel, scheduled for Jan. 1, 2019, will be suspended when the average Dubai crude price for three consecutive months before the next increase reaches or exceeds $80 per barrel. —Reports from Carla P. Gomez and Mar S. Arguelles