A HOUSE leader on Wednesday appealed to the Department of Finance (DOF) to give way to the proposed suspension of oil taxes, which he said would cut fuel prices by P6 per liter for diesel, P10 for gasoline, and P33 per 11-kilogram cylinder for cooking gas.

Deputy Speaker and 1-PACMAN Rep. Mikee Romero reminded the DOF that it had accepted a three-year moratorium on higher excise taxes on oil products under Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2018.

“As lawyers would say, the finance department is estopped from blocking the proposed excise tax suspension,” the representative of 1-PACMAN said.

However, Romero welcomed the reported statement of Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez that lawmakers should allow the law to operate.

“That is what was put in the TRAIN Law, so let’s just wait for the law to operate. It is not only us who are suffering from high prices, it is everywhere,” Dominguez was quoted as telling a news forum on Tuesday.

Romero said the Finance secretary “was apparently unaware that the provision of the law he referred to, which is Section 43, is no longer in effect.”

He said Section 43 provided for the suspension of the increase in excise taxes on oil products for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 whenever the cost of crude in the world market hit $80 per barrel.

“I am happy that the reported statement of Secretary Dominguez implies that he is agreeable to the temporary shelving of oil levies if the price of crude hits $80 per barrel. This means that taxes should now be suspended because the cost of crude has soared to more than $90 per barrel, at least $10 beyond the threshold under Section 43,” he said.

Romero stressed that the decision of many countries to reopen their economies despite the pandemic and tensions between Russia and Ukraine and its allies would further put upward pressure on the cost of crude.

Due to higher crude cost and the pandemic, domestic fuel prices have jumped by more than P20 per barrel since last year, with the price of gasoline reportedly going up to P80 per liter in some areas, Romero added.

“Let us not wait for crude and domestic prices to hit $100 per barrel and P100 per liter, let us not wait for a mass outcry from our people before we give them relief from sky-high fuel prices by suspending oil taxes,” he said.

Earlier, Romero urged President Duterte to consider calling Congress to a special session so it could pass a bill reviving Section 43 of the TRAIN Law.

Under the Constitution, the President can convene the legislature to a special session any time during its recess. Congress is now on its three-month election campaign adjournment.