Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 9) — Sen. Koko Pimentel is urging the government to suspend the excise and value added taxes on transactions involving fuel products amid the recent increase in pump prices which continue to hurt motorists and commuters.
“Chinallenge ko na yung DOE (Department of Energy) noon pa,” Pimentel told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Thursday. “DOE, alam niyo naman ang mga pinapataw na taxes and other costs, importation of fuel. Meron yang excise tax. Alisin na natin kahit temporarily.”
[Translation: I challenged DOE even before. DOE, you are aware of the taxes and other costs, as well as the importation of fuel. They all have a corresponding excise tax. We should get rid of that temporarily.]
“Tapos sa mga transactions over fuel meron ring VAT, tanggalin na rin natin ‘yan kahit temporarily,” he said. “In the long term, gawin nating lesson ito na siguro may mga bagay, may mga transactions na di na dapat nilalagyan ng VAT, di na dapat nilalagyan ng excise tax kahit kumikita ang gobyerno, kasi nga they are used by the people everyday.”
[Translation: Transactions over fuel, also require a VAT, so let’s also scrap that temporarily. In the long term, let it serve as a lesson that there are products, there are services that should neither have a VAT nor an excise tax even if equates to a government revenue, because, they are used by the people everyday.]
“Hindi makakilos ang ordinary individual kung napakamahal ng transportation cost. Apektado lahat (The ordinary individual could not do anything because of the high transportation cost. Everybody is affected),” the senator added.
Pimentel lamented how public utility drivers have been enduring the high cost of oil prices amid the slow completion of the government’s fuel subsidy program. He also called on the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to fast-track the distribution of aid to tricycle drivers.
He called too on regulatory bodies to be more proactive to the needs of the sector and agreed to the idea of having a weighted scale which can be used as basis for automatic fare adjustments, instead of transport groups having to file petitions for a fare increase every time fuel prices soar.
Various companies have imposed another ₱2.70 increase per liter for gasoline, ₱6.55 per liter for diesel, and ₱5.45 for kerosene effective June 7.
Two days after, the LTFRB finally granted a provisional ₱1 fare increase, allowing jeepney drivers plying the roads of Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Mimaropa to collect a ₱10 minimum fare among passengers.
READ: LTFRB approves temporary ₱1 hike in jeepney fare
The agency also promised to complete the first tranche of its fuel subsidy distribution within the week, with the second tranche set to start on the second week of July.
National Center for Commuters Safety and Protection President Elvira Medina told CNN Philippines’ New Day that commuters would not mind the ₱1 fare hike, since a ₱10 coin is easy to get out of their pockets. The fare increase also gives an ordinary jeepney driver an additional ₱22 per trip, equivalent to around ₱220 daily.
