Poe appeals to retail stations not to take advantage of fuel tax hike

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe on Thursday appealed to retail stations not to use the implementation of the second tranche of fuel excise taxes on petroleum products to take advantage and jack up prices.

Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, issued the statement after the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that a total of 444 retail outlets have already started imposing the second excise tax increase under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

READ: DOE: 444 retail stations start implementing second tranche of Train law

“Huwag nilang samantalahin ito upang magpataw ng dagdag presyo na higit pa sa itinakda ng batas (They should not take advantage of this to implement fuel price hikes higher than what is allowed by law),” Poe said in a statement.

“Maawa naman sila lalo na sa mahihirap nating kababayan na siguradong aaray na naman sa taas-presyong ito (Please give consideration to the poor who will bear the brunt of this price increase) ,” she added.

The senator also vowed to continue to use the oversight function of Congress to examine the implementation of the TRAIN law.

Under the TRAIN law, fuel excise taxes increased by P2.5 per liter in 2018, and the levy is scheduled to increase by P2 and P1.5 per liter in 2019 and 2020, respectively, for a total P6 excise tax hike over three years.

The DOE noted that a retail outlet can only impose the second tranche of excise tax increase after selling out all its 2018 inventories. /ee