THE government has so far marked nearly 6.88 billion liters of tax-compliant fuel from September 2019 to April 15, 2020.
This, after Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said last month that the government will continuously implement the fuel marking scheme despite the lockdown.
“Definitely, the fuel marking program, as part of our tax reform, is having a positive effect on our revenues and therefore on our ability to withstand the ill effects of the contagion,” said Dominguez in a Viber message to reporters.
Of the nearly 6.88 billion liters of fuel marked, the largest volumes were from Petron at 23.53 percent (1.62 billion liters), followed by Shell at 20.09 percent (1.38 billion liters), Unioil at 11.41 percent (785.19 million liters), Chevron at 10.31 percent (709.23 million liters) and Seaoil at 9.23 percent (634.67 million liters).
Meanwhile, Phoenix Petroleum came in next at 8.52 percent (586.09 million liters), Insular Oil at 5.29 percent (364.16 million liters), Total/FilOil at 3.12 percent (214.42 million liters), JETTI at 2.52 percent (173.42 million liters), and PTT at 1.47 percent (101.27 million liters).
The remaining percentage of volume marked were shared by other oil firms.
Per island group, the volume marked in Luzon accounted for 75 percent, followed by Mindanao at 20 percent and Visayas at 5 percent.
However, Dominguez said so far they have yet to assess the impact of fuel marking on reducing oil smuggling.
“The disruption in supply and demand caused by the contagion has made it difficult to make the estimate . . . ,” he said.
Government aims to collect at least P20 billion this year, which is half the estimated P40 billion in revenue lost to oil smuggling in the country.
Fuel marking makes use of a unique chemical marker that can be embedded at a molecular level in petroleum products—gasoline, diesel and kerosene—thereby enabling authorities to test, identify and distinguish petroleum products with paid excise taxes from those without.
Under Republic Act No. 10963 or the TRAIN Law, petroleum products that are refined, manufactured, or imported to the Philippines such as but not limited to, unleaded premium gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel shall be marked by an official marking agent after payment of taxes and duties.
For the first time in history, oil prices have also spiraled to below zero earlier this week due to the pandemic bringing the global economy to a standstill.
Sought to comment on what the government can do to assist oil firms amid the crisis and if the government is looking into a request for credit lines by some companies like airlines, Dominguez said: “We will ask the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) to help the banks that help their clients.”