Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is pushing for a shorter time for the President before suspending—or restoring—the excise tax on fuel upon the recommendation of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).

Lacson suggested this on Tuesday, March 24 saying it is imperative to let consumers immediately feel some relief from rising fuel costs.

“With all due respect, two weeks is not irrelevant. It has a big effect on consumers. Two weeks where they can save on fuel prices is a big deal,” he stressed.

“I would not have made this suggestion if there were no Iran war. If circumstances were different, I would not do it. But these are extraordinary times where oil prices can spike to up to $200 per barrel,” he said.

During the interpellation on Senate Bill No. 1982, which seeks the automatic suspension or reduction of excise tax on petroleum products, Lacson suggested to reduce the period to average the Dubai crude oil price based on Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) from the present one month to two weeks before suspending excise taxes, so consumers can immediately feel relief from the oil price hikes.

He also said a two-week period can work the other way, where government can restore the excise tax after two weeks so it will not lose more revenue.

The government has already projected at least P136-billion in foregone revenues for 2026 which when added to the P200-billion budget shortfall for this year would mean a P336-billion deficit for the government.

"In fairness to the tax collectors and the government's tax collection efforts, we can shorten the period from one month to two weeks to restore the excise tax. So it can work both ways,” he said.

The senator also stressed the need for the government to prioritize the essentials in spending. 

Lacson said he had earlier suggested to Executive Secretary Ralph Recto to help address the huge deficit by not implementing the infrastructure projects and other items inserted by legislators that were marked “for issuance of SARO” or FISARO.

He said doing this can help compensate for the P200-billion shortfall at the time. This was before the attack on Iran.

Trump’s brinkmanship fails

Likewise, Lacson observed that US President Donald Trump’s brinkmanship has backfired and because of this the Philippines is in crisis as is the rest of the world.

Trump, therefore, should be held to account for his actions, not only by the whole world but by his own country. 

“The Philippines is in crisis along with the rest of the world because President Trump’s brinkmanship did not work. In fact, it has boomeranged. He should be held to account by the whole world, including his own country, the USA,” he said on X.

https://x.com/iampinglacson/status/2036301393787756835

He also noted that in the past weeks, the United States' actions have worsened the conflict in the Middle East, affecting the supply of oil to countries, including the Philippines, affecting more countries.

Lacson blamed Trump’s narcissistic arrogance as a leader. 

“With the Nordic Alliance composed of Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland closing ranks with Canada and eventually extending to NATO and other countries over the US/Israel war against Iran, things are not looking good for the US and the world - all because of the narcissistic arrogance of one 'leader of the free world,'" he said in an earlier X post.

https://x.com/iampinglacson/status/2035196787603251248