A congressional leader on Wednesday vowed to pursue his proposal to suspend excise taxes on diesel, gasoline, cooking gas, and other oil products in the next Congress.
Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez made the statement as oil firms raised anew round the price of diesel but cut down cost of gasoline.
But Rodriguez, representative of Cagayan de Oro’s second district, said prices were expected to go up because of the European Union’s decision to ban 90 percent of its oil imports from Russia by the end of the year.
Already, the cost of crude oil in the international market has jumped to more than $110 per barrel following the EU’s decision, he said.
Rodriguez said he would refile his bill seeking to shelve the collection of fuel taxes for four years, the period he expects the economy to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of the Ukraine-Russia war.
“The suspension will bring immediate relief to our people,” he said.
He added that his suspension proposal covers only the tax increase imposed under Section 43 of Republic Act 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.
“Enacting the bill will cut pump prices by P6 per liter for diesel, P3 per kilogram for liquefied petroleum gas, P5 for kerosene, and P5.65 per liter for gasoline,” he stressed.
He pointed out that under his proposal, the government would continue collecting the old rates of excise tax on oil products.
Rodriguez said his bill would benefit all these sectors of the economy, including tourism and aviation, which are among the hardest-hit by the pandemic.
“They will benefit because our proposal would also reduce the tax on aviation fuel and other oil products tourism- and aviation-related businesses are using,” he said.
He said his proposed law would also cover bunker fuel oil, which is being used for generating electricity and whose tax under the TRAIN Law is P6 per liter.
Its approval would result in lower cost of travel, which should be good for tourists, and in electricity as well, in addition to reduced cost of goods, he added.