Suspension of excise taxes on fuel backed
DEPUTY Speaker Bernadette Herrera has supported the call for a special session to approve bills that would suspend the imposition of excise taxes on fuel amid skyrocketing pump prices.
“If it is really necessary and President Duterte calls for it, we are more than willing to take part in the special session with the end goal of providing much-needed relief to our people amid unstoppable rise in crude prices,” Herrera of the Bagong Henerasyon (BH) said.
Herrera lamented that ordinary consumers will ultimately bear the costs since nonstop oil price hikes have an adverse domino effect on the prices of goods and services.
“The higher costs will be passed on to ordinary consumers who have no choice but to deal with rising prices of food, electricity, water and other goods and services,” she pointed out.
Herrera said that a special session would allow Congress to pass legislation that would suspend the fuel excise taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law.
Suspending these taxes would immediately bring down local pump prices by P6 per liter for diesel, P10 per liter for gasoline, P5 per liter for kerosene, and P33 per 11-kilogram cylinder for LPG.
Herrera, however, said the holding of special session lies in the hands of the President, who, under the 1987 Constitution has the sole authority to call a special session of Congress during adjournment.
Congress, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, is currently on recess due to the ongoing campaign season, and it is not scheduled to convene again until after the May 9 elections.
