Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is pushing for suspension of excise tax on diesel, arguing that it is the "fuel for the masses."

While President Marcos already suspended excise tax on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene, Gatchalian wanted to expand scope of such suspension on oil products to include diesel.

"Ito ang ginagamit ng marami sa ating mga public utility drivers, public utility vehicles, pang-deliver ng gulay at prutas. Logistics, yan talaga ang pinakamalawak na fuel o malawak na ginagamit sa mga sasakyan at transportasyon (This is what many of our PUV drivers use, as well as those delivering vegetables and fruits. Logistics—that is the widely-used fuel for vehicles and transportation)," Gatchalian said in a radio interview over the weekend.

"Kaya ako ang aking panawagan ay isuspend pa rin. Dahil kung titignan natin, nag-umpisa tayo sa P60 per liter. Ngayon, nasa P110, P115 pa rin tayo per liter. Halos doble pa rin (That’s why my call is still to suspend it. Because if we look at it, we started at P60 per liter. Now, we are still at P110, P115 per liter. It's still almost double,)," he added.

Gatchalian also does not believe suspending excise tax on oil products that are being used by cars would only benefit the rich, as the Department of Finance (DOF) said, because most luxury cars still use gasoline.

"Pero ang diesel, gamit yan ng mga jeep, gamit ng mga bus, gamit ng mga truck, gamit rin nga yan ng mga generator sa mga isla (Jeeps, buses, trucks, and even generators on the islands still use diesel)," he said.

"Kaya mas malawak yung paggamit ng diesel. Kaya ako nakikita ko na meron pa rin, at this point, meron pa rin dahilan na pwedeng suspindihan ng excise tax sa diesel (The use of diesel is still widespread. That’s why I see that there is, at this point, a reason to be able to suspend the excise tax on diesel)," he added.

Gatchalian also proposed a "targeted approach" if the government could not entirely suspend tax on diesel.

"Ako pabor ako sa targeted approach dahil ang targeted, una-una, diretso yan sa mga nangangailangan talaga. At pangalawa, yung mga totoong nangangailangan na nabibigyan ng tulong (I am in favor of a targeted approach because, first of all, it goes directly to those who truly need it. And secondly, those who actually need it are the ones given help)," he said.

However, Gatchalian noted that the problem with a targeted approach is it being implemented very "slowly," like what's being done with a targeted fuel subsidy.

"Kung titignan yung pagbibigay ng fuel subsidy 45 percent pa lang ang nabibigyan. Eh, ano na, isang buwan at kalahati na ngayon. So, yun ang problema natin, ang bagal ng pagbibigay ng targeted subsidy (If you look at the distribution of the fuel subsidy, only 45 percent have been given their share. And yet, it’s already been a month and a half. So, that is our problem—the distribution of the targeted subsidy is too slow)," he said.