Former lawmaker and now senatorial bet Monsour del Rosario called on the government to implement two immediate solutions to cushion the impact of the Ukraine crisis on the economy—temporarily reducing the excise tax on oil products and releasing fuel subsidies to the transport sector.
“It’s high time that our government act on this immediately and implement a tax break on oil to curb the effects of its rising prices globally. I believe this will help cushion the blow on our kababayans who are struggling to cope with the situation,” Del Rosario said.
Under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, the government collects an excise tax of P10 per liter for gasoline, P6 per liter for diesel, and P5 per liter for kerosene.
Under the Internal Revenue Code, the President has the power to adjust some taxes based on economic conditions.
Del Rosario said reducing the excise tax is a more feasible alternative than temporarily suspending it, a move that the Department of Finance has been opposing as this would result in government revenue losses of over P130 billion.
“For many decades, our country has always been on the losing end of any global crisis that marked significant effects on the price of oil. Even before the conflict in Russia and Ukraine or the COVID-19 pandemic happened, prices of basic commodities like fares for public transportation, food, and others have been going up remarkably and ultimately hurting our people,” he said.
As a long-term solution, Del Rosario said the government must “seriously commit to looking for alternative resources of oil and energy that would make our country less dependent on imported oil.”
“The world is changing fast and we cannot just sit and wait for the next pandemic or another global crisis to happen. We need to act fast and we need to act now,” Del Rosario added.
