Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the move of the House of Representatives to review the fuel excise tax is a welcome development as it would give lawmakers the opportunity to carefully study if the scheduled hike is necessary in light of the current rate of inflation.
“Magandang nire-review ng lower house ang excise tax para lumabas din dun ang mga dahilan kung bakit nagpalit ng isip ang economic managers pagdating sa suspension (It is good that the House reviews the excise tax so that economic managers would have a chance to explain why they changed their decision to suspend),” Gatchalian said in an ambush interview.
“Senators would also have the chance to look if the scheduled increases are necessary given the still high inflation rate.”
The chair of the Senate Committees on Economic Affairs and Energy said senators would also be given the chance to check if the scheduled hikes are needed given the still high inflation rate.
From a peak of 6.7 percent in September, inflation rate eased to 6 percent in November.
“Magkakaroon tayo ng pagkakataon na mapag-aralang mabuti kung itutuloy o hindi angsuspension (We will have the chance to carefully study if we suspend or not),” the legislator said.
The lawmaker, however, said it would take an enabling law to suspend the fuel excise tax increases scheduled for 2019, noting that he has recommended a temporary suspension of the scheduled hikes for at least the first three months of next year.
“This would further ease inflationary pressures and also gives the bottom 30 percent of our population most adversely affected by high inflation to recover,” the senator said.
“Three months is also the time needed for government to fully distribute the unconditional cash transfers and fuel subsidies to all the beneficiaries identified in the TRAIN law.”
He added that three months is also the time needed for government to fully distribute the unconditional cash transfers and fuel subsidies to all the beneficiaries identified in the TRAIN law.
Meanwhile, Gatchalian said government should also closely monitor global oil prices because of the volatility of the oil market.
He also urged the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Energy to closely monitor hoarding next year as part of government efforts to stabilize the price of goods and petroleum products.
“Kailangan nilang bantayan nang maigi na walang hoarding na mangyayari para hindi bumulusok pataas ang presyo ng krudo at ng bilihin sa bansa (Strict monitoring is needed to prevent hoarding so that prices of goods and oil in the country would not rise dramatically),” Gatchalian said.
