The government has raked in nearly P180 billion in revenues since it started implementing the fuel-marking program back in 2019.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), through its partners SGS Philippines and SICPA-SA, marked a total volume of 18.29 billion liters of fuel from September 3, 2019 until January 14 this year, based on an infographic shared by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III to reporters.
During the period, BIR and BOC collected a total of P178.8 billion in duties and taxes from its fuel-marking program.
Taking the lion’s share of revenues was BOC with P154.43 billion, while BIR earned P24.37 billion.
In terms of fuel type, diesel cornered the bulk, or 61.22 percent of fuel marked, followed by gasoline (38.25 percent) and kerosene (0.53 percent).
Most of the fuel marked was in Luzon (74.06 percent), then Mindanao (20.94 percent) and Visayas (5 percent).
Petron topped the list of 22 companies that participated in the fuel-marking program after it had the most volume of fuel marked at 4.19 billion liters, equivalent to a 22.92- percent share of the total.
Trailing Petron is Shell with 19.72-percent share or 3.6 billion liters, followed by Unioil with 10.51 percent, or 1.92 billion liters, Seaoil with 8.23 percent or 1.5 billion liters, and Phoenix with 7.71 percent or 1.4 billion liters.
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.
Under Republic Act 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN), petroleum products that are refined, manufactured or imported to the Philippines such as, but not limited to, unleaded premium gasoline, kerosene, and diesel, shall be marked by an official marking agent after payment of taxes and duties.
Spearheaded by the Department of Finance, the BOC, and the BIR, the fuel-marking program was launched with the aim of halting illegal importation, manufacturing and other fraudulent activities relating to the use and sale of petroleum products in the country.