Senators: Duterte can ask Congress to suspend fuel taxes

President Duterte can do more to slow down the increasing prices of commodities, including endorsing a joint resolution of Congress to suspend excise taxes on petroleum products, senators said yesterday.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito issued separate statements as Malacañang announced that Duterte has already issued directives to cushion the impact of soaring prices.

Drilon warned prices of basic commodities will continue to increase as there are no signs that the rise in prices of crude in the world market would taper off.

“That (excise taxes) can be suspended. He (Duterte) can just request a resolution of both houses of Congress and that will be given to him immediately,” Drilon told dzBB.

“He has enough political clout in both houses of Congress to pass a joint resolution,” he said.

Drilon said the inflation is fuelled in part by the excise taxes on petroleum products under Republic Act 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

While there are mechanisms to suspend the tax, the process would take too long for the government to respond to rising prices of crude.

Ejercito said there are other measures Malacañang can do to make the government respond quickly to rising prices of oil like amending the TRAIN’s implementing rules and regulation (IRR) or rushing to amend the law itself.

While the TRAIN provides for the suspension of excise taxes on fuel once the prices of Dubai crude hit $80 per barrel, Ejercito said its implementation is not as quick as the Department of Finance (DOF) portrays it to be.

“The IRR of the TRAIN can be improved to allow faster relief for our families if oil prices continue to surge,” he said.

Ejercito said the IRR apparently has not been clear and explicit on exactly how to go about triggering the suspension of the excise taxes, which could give the DOF an excuse to drag its feet.

He said the TRAIN also provides that the DOF and the Development Budget and Coordinating Council will still have to meet and review the implementation of the excise taxes before recommending any suspension.

Worse, such recommendation would only be made on an annual basis, and any suspension shall not result in any reduction of the excise tax being imposed at the time of the suspension, he said.

Another safety net in the Senate version was the suspension of the scheduled increase in the excise tax on fuel for the period covering 2018 to 2020 when the inflation rate exceeds the annual target of the government. But this was not included in the TRAIN law.

“The wait for any suspension is too long. If the DOF would not want to tweak the IRR, Congress can act fast to make amendments to the TRAIN. After all, we’re just talking about a few provisions,” Ejercito said.

He said the provisions on the review and the three-month averaging could be shortened to allow the government to act faster in suspending excise taxes on petroleum products.