Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) retailers have vowed to immediately reduce the prices of their products--which Filipino households use as cooking has--once President Marcos issues the executive order (EO) suspending the excise tax on it.

REGASCO President and former Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPGMA) Party-list Rep. Arnel Ty made this commitment during the marathon hearing Monday, April 13 of the House Legislative Energy Action Development (LEAD) Council.

Ty made the statement on behalf of his association, which controlled 15 to 25 percent of the LPG market.

“I can say that our industry can immediately implement the next day the P3 excise tax,” said Ty, a former two-term congressman.

He was referring to the P3 excise for every kilogram of LPG, or P33 for a standard 11-kilo cylinder. Amid the fuel price crisis, Ty said hat the local price of LPG has gone up from P1,100 to more than P1,600 per cylinder.

Just a few hours after making these remarks, President Marcos announced on Monday afternoon that he was suspending the excise taxes on LPG and kerosene.

Ty assured solons that members of his group can immediately remove the excise on present inventories, which have been subjected to such levy. He says they can recoup their losses on the incoming supply.

“Kung anuman yung mababawas sa excise tax, at meron pa kaming existing inventory, we can recoup that once na maibalik naman ang excise tax sa susunod na mga panahon, dahil yung aming available inventory during that time has no excise tax,” he explained.

(Whatever reduction is made in the excise tax, and since we already have existing inventory, we can recoup that once the excise tax is reinstated in the future, because the inventory we have at that time carries no excise tax.)

“So, ganun lang naman kasimple ‘yan (That’s how simple it is). So, I don't think there should be a debate on how we implement the reduction of the excise tax on the pump price or in the cylinder for the consumer,” Ty said.

He further noted that such immediate adjustment was easy for them to do "because our price adjustment only happens once every month, unlike gasoline and diesel, (which is) every week. So, we know what is our inventory per month or what is our carrying or existing inventory."

“Because in the coming months, if that excise tax will be returned, then our inventory, existing inventory will also have no excise tax. So, parang bawi lang, so sabi ko nga (So it's like it cancels out, like what I said), it should not be a reason for us to say that there is a difficulty in how to implement it,” Ty said.

“Thank you very much. Yes, the Department of Finance (DOF), should be listening closely to this,” LEAD Council presiding officer Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Miro Quimbo told Ty.

Quimbo was alluding to DOF Undersecretary Rolando Ligon Jr.'s claims earlier in the energy crisis council hearing, wherein he said that an excise tax suspension or reduction on gasoline and diesel could not take effect immediately since oil firms would first have to exhaust first their stocks that were subjected to excise tax.

Any excise tax removal or cut would apply only to incoming fuel supply, Ligon said.