Amid the continued increase in the prices of petroleum products,
Senator Grace Poe has refiled her bill seeking the automatic suspension of excise tax on gasoline and diesel.
The lawmaker, who is poised to head the Senate Committee on Public Services, reintroduced the bill seeking to amend the National Internal Revenue Code and to suspend the collection of excise taxes on petroleum products in the 19th Congress. Poe’s measure which she filed in November 2021 was not tackled and passed by the Senate in the last Congress.
Under Poe’s proposed measure, the collection of excise taxes on petroleum products will be automatically suspended when the average Dubai crude oil prices based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) exceeds $80 per barrel over a period of three months.
Poe said this measure will help drive down the price of gasoline and diesel by P10 per liter and P6 per liter, respectively.
“Taking off P6 from the price of diesel per liter during critical times can help our drivers ply their routes again. At the same time, it will lower the cost of transporting goods,” she said.
Poe also cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority which showed inflation rate has risen in all 17 regions of the country, driven in part by the continued uptick in gasoline and diesel prices.
Last month, Poe said transport accounted for 31.7 percent in the rise in inflation with inflation for diesel at 92.5 percent and gasoline at 53.9 percent.
With this, she said over 20 percent of the 900, 000 public utility jeepney drivers across the country have stopped plying the roads due to financial losses.
“If the government can afford to lose P251 billion to benefit big companies under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act in the first two years, why can’t it do the same for our public utility drivers, delivery riders and ordinary workers who bear the brunt of higher transport costs?” Poe asked.
The Department of Finance has estimated the government would lose more than P100 billion in revenues if the collection of excise taxes and VAT on gasoline and diesel products is suspended.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III also filed a similar bill seeking the suspension of collection of excise taxes and VAT on petroleum products if the Dubai crude oil based on the MOPS also reaches $80 per barrel.
