MANILA, Philippines — The government should carefully assess proposals to cut taxes on oil products amid another impending fuel price increase as such a drastic measure can affect revenue-collecting measures, Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo said on Monday.
Quimbo explained that the government can consider other alternatives — such as handing out subsidies to consumers using funds lodged with government offices.
She said the slower-than-predicted gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the second quarter of 2023 should be considered.
“Ako naman po, is kailangan pang ‘pag usapan yan. Kasi marami pa namang other alternatives kasi syempre, titignan natin syempre, of course revenues ‘yan eh. Kapag magsususpend tayo ng taxes ibig sabihin nyan there are foregone revenues. And when we forego revenues ibig sabihin n’yan mawawalan po tayo ng suporta para sa spending,” Quimbo told reporters when asked about Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’ planned meeting with oil company executives.
(We need to talk about that because there are other alternatives because, of course, if we look at it, these are revenues. If we suspend tax collection, it means there are foregone revenues. And when we forgo revenues, that means we lose support for spending.)
On Monday afternoon, Romualdez’s office released photos showing the speaker, Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales, Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd District Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe, appropriations committee chairman and Ako-Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co and ways and means committee chairman and Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda talking with oil companies executives.
GDP issue
“At tatandaan po natin na medyo bumagal ang GDP growth natin ng second quarter ng taong ito. We expected a much higher GDP growth, di ba 4.3 percent lang ang growth ng second quarter. So ang kahirapan is if we suspend taxes baka mahirapan tayo mag support ng faster government spending in the next quarter,” she added.
(And let us remember that GDP growth slowed slightly for the second quarter of this year. We expected a much higher GDP growth, but we got only 4.3 percent for the second quarter. So the difficulty here is that if we suspend taxes, we might struggle to support faster government spending in the next quarter.)
Alternatives
Quimbo said some funds can be used within the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Department of Agriculture (DA), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“We still have remaining funds for fuel subsidies, which are lodged with the DOTr. We have funds with DA, DA, and at the same time we have different subsidies with the DSWD,” she added.
“So for me that’s what we have to weigh. Do we suspend taxes, or should we use subsidies for our consumers?”
Tax cut
In a statement on Monday, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said oil taxes should be slashed as world market prices are expected to rise further in the coming weeks.
The lawmaker also explained that she and the Makabayan bloc have already filed bills to remove the excise tax on fuel provided by Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law (TRAIN) and the value-added tax (VAT).
“We filed House Bill 400 seeking to scrap TRAIN Law excise tax and VAT on petroleum products as our first priority measure for the 19th Congress. We challenge the Marcos Jr. administration to certify it as urgent,” Brosas said.
Meanwhile, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) urged the public to air their sentiments against the rising prices of goods — particularly fuel and rice.
On Tuesday, oil companies are expected to raise fuel prices again: gasoline fuel by P2 per liter, diesel by around P2.50 per liter, and kerosene by P2 per liter.
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