Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV stressed that it was high time the government addressed the high prices of goods and services amid the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ projection that inflation rate could reach as high as 5.1 percent and the further weakening of the peso.
In a statement, Aquino said the government should immediately roll back fuel tax and suspend Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law.
With the weakening of peso, he noted Filipinos were drowning in the high prices of goods.
He said a huge percentage of our products in the market had imported raw materials.
Aquino beat off the statement of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno that the weakening of the peso was not bad for the domestic economy.
He said the data from the government and the experiences of many Filipinos, drowning in the worsening spike in prices were just the same.
Aquino maintained the rise in inflation rate and the weakening peso were reasons enough for the government to suspend the TRAIN Law.
He is one of four senators who voted against the ratification of the TRAIN Law.
“What proof does the government want to stop TRAIN?” asked Aquino.
The senator has been conducting dialogues with different sectors around the country on the effects of the TRAIN Law in the prices of goods and services.
The number of those being hit by TRAIN, Aquino said, had been increasing.
“When will the government stop this burden?” questioned the senator, who has been pushing for the suspension and rollback of the excise tax on fuel under the TRAIN Law to help lower the prices of goods.
Aquino called on the government to support his measure calling for the immediate suspension of the excise tax on petroleum products under the TRAIN Law to ease the public’s burden.
If passed into law, Aquino’s measure would roll back the excise tax on fuel under the TRAIN Law once average inflation rate surpassed the annual inflation target over a three-month period.
The opposition senator also called on the government to fully implementation the mitigating measures under the TRAIN Law, such as the unconditional cash transfer program for poor families and the Pantawid Pasada for jeepney operators and drivers.