Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Mike Defensor insisted on Thursday, March 3 that suspending taxes on fuel is the best way to provide instant relief to Filipino consumers amid runaway pump fuel prices.

“I am for revisiting the law that deregulated the oil industry, but in terms of providing our people immediate and direct relief from soaring fuel prices, suspending taxes on oil products is considerably a better option,” he said in a statement.

Defensor, who is running for Quezon City mayor in the May 2022 polls, gave this remark in the backdrop of growing calls for Congress to hold special sessions in order to come up with a legislative remedy for skyrocketing fuel prices.

Among these is the proposed suspension of excise taxes on fuel and the review of the Oil Deregulation Law. He said among Malacañang’s proposals in the review of the 1998 law is the building of oil reserves that would be tapped whenever the cost of crude in the world market rises.

“I am for that. But how many years would that take? In the meantime, our people are clamoring for instant relief,” Defensor stressed.

He added that in case President Duterte calls Congress to a special session, he would push for the approval of his House Bill (HB) No. 10411, which seeks the suspension of fuel taxes for three years.

Alternatively, he said he would support the restoration of the oil tax suspension mechanism under Section 43 of the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

Section 43 provided for the shelving of higher oil levies whenever the price of crude in the world market hits $80 per barrel. However, the provision applied only to the years 1998, when the law took effect, 1999, and 2000.

“We can revive that so that the tax increase under TRAIN could immediately be shelved because the cost of crude has soared to $113 per barrel due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Defensor said.

“The DOF had accepted the automatic suspension mechanism under Section 43 in 1998. We cannot understand why it is opposing it now,” he said.

He pointed out that the present price of crude is $33 above the threshold set under Section 43.

“The impact of the $33-increase on domestic fuel prices is significant,” he added.