Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas (Facebook)

Saying there's no action on the part of the government regarding soaring fuel prices, Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas is pushing for the certification as urgent of bills seeking to lower the prices of petroleum products. 

In particular, Brosas, a House assistant majority leader, is looking at the proposal to scrap the excise tax and value-added tax (VAT) on oil. 

The veteran lawmaker said the price of diesel could be reduced by as much as P15 per liter if the measure will get enacted. 

"Walang aksyon pa rin sa walang ampat na taas-presyo ng langis (There's still no action on the runaway prices on fuel)," the Makabayan solon said in a statement Monday, Sept. 18. 

"Oil taxes must be scrapped at the soonest time to bring urgent relief to Filipinos, and especially as world oil prices are set to further escalate in the coming months," said Brosas. 

"We filed House Bill (HB) No.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," she added.
 

TRAIN refers to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

The Makabayan bloc also filed bills that will strategically make oil prices cheaper, particularly through the regulation of the downstream oil industry, unbundling petroleum prices, re-nationalizing of Petron, and the Institutionalization of centralized procurement of oil products. 

By Gabriela's count, Filipinos are set to endure an 11th straight price increase on pump fuel this week. This could bring the price of diesel to as high as P70 per liter.