JV Ejercito urges gov’t to rethink implementation of new oil tax hike

Senator JV Ejercito on Thursday urged President Rodrigo Duterte and the country’s economic team “not to walk back on their decision to lighten the load off the purchasing power of Filipino families.”

Ejercito’s statement came after the country’s economic managers recommended to President Duterte to push through with the second tranche of oil excise tax hike.

The increase is mandated under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.

READ: DBCC back-pedals, now OKs higher fuel excise taxes in 20l9

“Ngayong nakakahinga na ng kaunti ang ating mga kababayan e papatawan na naman natin ng pagtaas ng buwis na tiyak na magpaptaas muli sa presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin,” Ejercito said in a statement.

(Now that our countrymen have breathed a little, we will slap them with a new round of taxes that will undoubtedly push the prices of basic commodities up.)

“I urge our economic managers not to reverse their recommendation to suspend the second round of excise tax increases on fuels,” he added.

The senator also noted that the earlier recommendation to suspend further increase in the prices of petroleum has been “rightly approved” by the President.

This after the economic managers recommended the suspension to help tame the soaring prices of commodities after inflation clocked in at a new nine-year high last September.

READ: Palace confirms suspension of oil excise tax hike

“We have been asking our people to bite the bullet for the sake of the common good,” Ejercito said.

“I now urge [the] government to bite the bullet for the sake of the welfare of the majority of the Filipinos,” he added. /ee