To help lower the price of goods and services, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has prohibited local government units (LGU) from collecting pass-through fees for delivery vehicles on national roads, and those unfunded by Republic Act (RA) No. 7160 or the Local Government Code (LGC).
Likewise, he “strongly urged” LGUs to suspend or discontinue the collection of fees such as sticker fees, discharging fees, market fees, toll fees, entry fees, or mayor’s permit fees, imposed on vehicles transporting goods and passing through public roads constructed by and funded through the LGC.
The said policies were issued through the President’s Executive Order (EO) No. 41, which he signed on September 25, 2023, but only took effect last Thursday after it was posted in the Official Gazette.
The President said the three-page issuance was in line with the goal of his administration to reduce transport and logistics costs to help revitalize industries.
“The unauthorized imposition of pass-through fees has a significant impact on transportation and logistics costs, which are often passed on [to] consumers, who ultimately bear the burden for the increase in prices of goods and commodities,” Marcos said in his new EO.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) already issued a similar warning to LGUs against illegal collection of pass-through fees in 2018.
Marcos tasked DILG to coordinate with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and Department of Finance (DOF) to make sure the existing ordinances of LGUs related to pass-through fees are consistent with the LGC.
The review will be done 30 days within the effectivity of the new order.
Officials or employees of LGUs, who may fail to comply with the provisions of EO 41, will face administrative or disciplinary sanctions without prejudice to other criminal, civil or other related liabilities under existing laws.
DTI and DILG were mandated to submit periodic reports to the Office of the Executive Secretary on the implementation of EO 41.
Image credits: Tikhonova Vera | Dreamstime.com
