Nueva Ecija Third District Rep. Rosanna “Ria” Vergara chided the Department of Finance for taking an adamant stand against moves to suspend collection of excise tax on fuel as way of protecting Filipinos from the impact of uncontrolled price hikes in petroleum products.
During a Committee on Energy briefing on the proposal on Thursday, Oct. 28, Vergara, warned that oil firms are not done yet with their weekly price adjustment of their products.
“We are walking on a very fine line. Magwi-winter pa lang,(Winter is yet to come) so prices of fuel will still go higher,” said Vergara, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Trade and Industry.
Vergara also noted that the peso-dollar exchange rate is “going up” with the country’s currency starting to weaken.
The two factors are expected to push the oil prices higher, she said.
“I am really quite worried that the DOF is not even considering pushing back,” she lamented.
Vergara is among the lawmakers who have expressed support to the proposal to suspend the imposition of excise tax on fuel to cushion the impact of the unabated fuel price hikes on the people.
The Makabayan bloc has filed a bill providing for this move .
On the other hand, the Department of Energy has asked Congress to grant it authority to suspend excise taxes on fuel under certain circumstances. On the other hand, Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has filed House Bill 10246 for the suspension of any hike in excise taxes on gasoline, diesel and other oil products for four years, from 2022 to 2025.
Under Rodriguez’s proposal, only the excise tax adjustments imposed in Section 43 of Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law would be suspended.
He said once the suspension takes effect, the government would continue collecting excise levies on oil products based on the old rates contained in the National Internal Revenue Code.
Vergara, also the chairperson of the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, chided DOF for “taking a hardline” against the proposal, pointing out that this is “not a wise decision.” She then pointed out that when the TRAIN Law was still being considered and later passed, nobody had anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic that triggered worldwide economic depression.
The excise tax on fuel and its subsequent increase are provided under the TRAIN Law which the Duterte administration pushed in 2017.
Aside from excise taxes, government also imposes the value added tax on petroleum products.