MANILA – A party-list lawmaker on Thursday said suspending fuel taxes is the best way to provide instant relief to Filipinos amid a continued spike in fuel prices.
Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor made the statement after Malacañang has called on Congress to review Republic Act No. 8479, or the 1998 Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act.
He said Congress should also tackle other measures that will address the recent oil price increases, including the suspension of the excise on fuel if ever it holds a special session to review the oil deregulation law.
“I am for revisiting the law that deregulated the oil industry, but in terms of providing our people immediate and direct relief from soaring fuel prices, suspending taxes on oil products is considerably a better option,” he said.
He said among Malacañang’s proposals in the review of the 1998 law is the building of oil reserves that would be used whenever the cost of crude in the world market rises.
“I am for that. But how many years would that take? In the meantime, our people are clamoring for instant relief,” he said.
Defensor said while he would push for the suspension of fuel taxes for three years, he would also support the restoration of the oil tax suspension mechanism under Section 43 of the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion Law.
Section 43 provided for the shelving of higher oil levies whenever the price of crude in the world market hit USD80 per barrel.
He, however, pointed out that the provision applied only to the years 1998, when the law took effect, 1999 and 2000.
“We can revive that so that the tax increase under TRAIN could immediately be shelved because the cost of crude has soared to USD113 per barrel due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Defensor said.
He noted that the present price of crude is USD33 above the threshold set under Section 43.
“The DOF (Department of Finance) had accepted the automatic suspension mechanism under Section 43 in 1998. We cannot understand why it is opposing it now,” he said. “The impact of the USD33-increase on domestic fuel prices is significant."
The Palace also called on the Congress to review the Oil Deregulation Law, particularly provisions on unbundling the price, and the inclusion of the minimum inventory requirements in the law, as well as giving the government intervention powers/authority to intervene when there is a spike and/or prolonged increase of prices of oil products--as part of the government's medium-term measures.
The government is also eyeing the building of the strategic petroleum reserve infrastructure, ensuring Minimum Inventory Requirements, and advocating for energy conservation and efficiency.
The Department of Trade and Industry's recommendations to accelerate renewable energy adoption; support investments in Utility-Scale Battery Storage to maximize utilization of renewable energy sources; support investments in modern storage facilities for oil and grains to increase within-the-border holding capacity; and empower the private sector to help in strategic stockpiling will be put in place, as further approved by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. (PNA)
