Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday urged the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Energy to activate a task force that will guard against premature price increases and profiteering in the wake of the implementation of a new round of increases in the excise tax on fuel in January.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier have his approval for the imposition of an additional levy worth P2 per liter on fuel products under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law.
The lawmaker said DTI and DOE should work hand-in-hand in monitoring possible incidents of profiteering as a result of the implementation of the second tranche of fuel tax hike.
He said the estimated rate impact on pump price due to the second round of excise tax hikes would be around P2 to P3 per liter, while the estimate rate impact of the second tranche of the excise tax on coal is around P0.048 per kWh for 100 percent coal-contracted power distribution utilities.
Before oil companies are allowed to impose fuel price hikes, Gatchalian urged the DOE to scrutinize inventories of petroleum crude oil and products.
He said there are unscrupulous oil retailers who will take advantage of the latest round of fuel tax hikes by increasing the price of fuel products that were imported prior to the implementation of the latest tax regime.
“These are the times when we should be very vigilant. We don’t want unscrupulous oil retailers taking advantage of the latest fuel tax hike by selling their old inventory products at a much higher price, even if they purchased it at a lower price,” the lawmaker said.
He also urged the government’s economic managers not to commit the same mistake of failing to take into account the indirect effects of the second tranche of fuel tax hike.
The lawmaker recalled that during one of the Senate committee hearings on inflation, the country’s economic managers admitted underestimating the impact of the TRAIN Law.
“By now, I expect our economic managers to be more well-equipped and well-prepared in terms of taming the country’s inflation for next year as the government proceeds with the implementation of the second tranche of the fuel excise tax hike,” he added.