Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon believes that Filipinos will feel relief from the fuel price crisis sooner than later.

Thus, said the lawyer-legislator on March 14 during the Saturday Media Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City, as he shared hopes of an excise tax suspension of P6 to P10 per liter on pump fuel within the next two weeks.

Ridon say the House of Representatives is almost done passing the bill authorizing President Marcos to suspend or reduce excise tax on petroleum products amid the oil-producing Middle East.

“Approval is just a matter of time. Almost finished na sa (House), hopefully maipasa sa Senado by the end of next week (It's almost finished in the House. Hopefully the Senate can pass it by the end of next week),” Ridon told the Saturday Media Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.

He said the proposed law would then be sent to the President, who certified it as an urgent measure on Thursday.

“So as big as P10 per liter ‘yung pong puwedeng ma-shave off sa presyo ng produktong petrolyo pagka po nasuspendi na ‘yung excise taxes. So malaking bagay po ito and hopefully within the next two weeks ay makapag-benepisyo na po at makinabang ang ating mga kababayan dito po sa intervention po ito,” Ridon said.

(So as big as P10 per liter can be shaved off the price of petroleum products once the excise taxes are suspended. This is a significant relief, and hopefully within the next two weeks our fellow citizens will already benefit and take advantage of this intervention.)

He says the grant of authority to the President to suspend or reduce oil levies is unprecedented.

“Ang pagbigay po ng kapangyarihan sa ating Pangulo na bawasan, suspendihin, tanggalin ang excise taxes sa produktong petrolyo, ito po ay historic, unprecedented, hindi po nagawa kahit noong nagdaan. Kasi noong nagdaan meron pa hong tatlong buwang palugit para magtanggal, magsuspendi ng excise taxes sa produktong petrolyo."

(Granting our President the authority to reduce, suspend, or remove excise taxes on petroleum products is historic and unprecedented, something never done before. In the past, there was still a three‑month grace period before excise taxes on petroleum products could be lifted or suspended.)

He was referring to the provision of the existing law allowing presidential intervention only if the three-month average of crude prices exceeds 80 dollars per barrel.

This waiting period was removed in the bill empowering the President to intervene, Ridon said.

“To be clear, what makes today’s intervention different is that as soon as the President declares a state of national emergency relating to petroleum prices, we don’t have to wait for three months to do an an average,” he noted

“So pagka inflated po ang prices, more than 80 dollars per barrel and there is a declaration of national emergency, immediately implementable ito (So when prices are inflated, above 80 dollars per barrel, and there is a declaration of national emergency, this becomes immediately implementable),” he explained.

He added that the forecast is that pump prices of oil products would hit beyond the P100-per-liter mark in the next two weeks. A P10-per-liter reduction would be a big relief "not just for transport sectors but for the entire economy", he said.

He explained that the President and House members realized the need for immediate intervention amid rising crude oil and fuel prices.

“This crisis on the prices of oil is confronted by the entire strata of economic sectors. Hindi lang naman po ang mga mahihirap ang nahihirapan dito, kahit po ang middle class ay nahihirapan (It's not only the poor who are struggling here—even the middle class is finding it difficult). What is most important today is for us to be able to provide immediate economic relief to our countrymen,” he said.

“So if it is something that can be undertaken in the soonest time, government will do it and it is doing it today,” he said.

As for potential revenue losses on the part of government, Ridon said, “Yung pong usapin ng revenues, di naman galing po sa excise taxes ang revenues, meron pa ho itong ibang pagkukunan.”

(As for revenues, they do not solely come from excise taxes; there are other sources to draw from.)