Presidential aspirant and Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domogoso vowed on Thursday, Oct. 21, that he will slash the tax on electricity and petroleum products by half for the benefit of the ordinary Filipinos.

Domagoso, along with his running mate Willie Ong and Aksyon Demokratiko's senatorial bets, held a dialogue with farmers and agricultural workers during a town hall meeting in Barangay Banaba in Tarlac on Thursday.

He vowed to cut the excise tax on petroleum products and electricity by 50 percent if he is elected as the country's next president.

"If given a chance, ang unang-una kong gagawin is babawasan ko nang 50 percent ang buwis ng langis (the first thing I will do is to reduce oil tax by 50 percent)," Domagoso said.

He pointed out that this will benefit not only the poor people but also the middle class who have been at the receiving end of the weekly price increases in crude oil.

“To cushion the socio-economic impact of the pandemic, a 50-percent reduction in fuel excise tax can lower the power generation cost and another 50-percent cut on taxes on electricity would mean savings for the majority of our people, many of whom are jobless now due to the COVID 19 pandemic,” Domagoso said.

The tax cut on electricity also means there will be more food on the table and more money to spend on basic needs, he added.

“The income of farmers and fishermen will definitely be affected by the fuel price hikes. Farmers use crude oil in their farm tractors, kuliglig, and motors that are used for irrigation. Even their fertilizers and pesticides are by-products of petroleum. Fishermen will also have to reduce their fishing trip because of high fuel prices,” he said.

Domagoso also noted the increase in the prices of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene is the reason why transport groups, drivers, and operators of PUVs keep demanding for a fare hike.

He said the national government must do the sacrifice instead of letting the Filipinos suffer from the impact of the continuous increase in prices that has been happening since August.

"We cannot bring down the cost of power generation but the end-users or the consumers, can be made to pay lower electricity bills. How? Bawasan natin ang buwis sa kuryente ng 50 porsyento. Mababawasan ang kita ng gobyerno pero ang tao ang panalo dahil sa malaking pera na kanilang matitipid (Let’s reduce the electricity tax by 50 percent. Government revenue will be reduced but the people will be the winner because of the huge money they will save),” said Domagoso.

“There is such a thing as delayed gratification principle which means that while the government bites the bullet by implementing a 50 percent tax cut on electricity and fuel, the end-result is still favorable to the government. Bagama’t nalugi ang gobyerno sa buwis, lumakas naman ang buying power ng mamamayan at bumalik ito sa ekonomiya natin na lalong lumakas. That is a positive chain reaction (Although the government will lose revenues in taxes, the buying power of the people will increase and it will redound to our economy which will become even stronger. That is a positive chain reaction)," he said.