The chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs aired misgivings Friday over persisting problems confronting Malacañang’s move to go ahead with the imposition of the second tranche of fuel excise tax in 2019.
In a statement, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian clarified at the outset that he respected President Duterte’s not to suspend the second tranche of the excise tax on petroleum products in 2019 as provided for in the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN Law).
But the Senator added that he “would be remiss in my duties as a pro-consumer advocate if I do not voice out my opinion on this matter.”
For instance, Sen. Gatchalian cited the various social mitigating measures provided for in the TRAIN Law, including the Pantawid Pasada Program and the Unconditional Cash Transfer program that, he said, have been “plagued by inefficiencies and delays.”
The Senator pointed out there are only how many days left in the year but the promised mitigating measures have not been fulfilled, warning against the backlash of “creeping inflation.”
He added: “Ilang araw na lang ang natitira sa taon na ito pero hindi pa rin po natutupad ang pangako ng iba’t ibang ahensiya ng gobyerno na ganap na maipatupad ang social mitigating measures na ito. The bottom 30% poorest of our population will bear the brunt of this creeping inflation.”
Moreover, Sen. Gatchalian recalled that the Duterte administration’s economic managers themselves admitted they “failed to account for the indirect effects of TRAIN on inflation during one of the hearings we conducted on the inflationary effects of the law.”
At the same time, the Senator signalled his inclination to dispute the economic managers’ claims justifying higher fuel excise tax when the measure is tackled in plenary deliberations. “Until we see the revised computation of the Department of Finance incorporating both the direct and indirect effects of the fuel excise tax on inflation, I would have to respectfully disagree to the claim that the oil excise tax hike has a negligible contribution to inflation,” he said.
Sen. Gatchalian also cited reports that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies are working toward a deal to reduce oil output by at least 1.3 million barrels per day, with the OPEC members expected to meet Thursday, in Vienna.
“We are in a very volatile situation right now and should this reduction in oil production happen, oil prices will surely increase again in the following days or weeks,” he said, suggesting the need to closely monitor global oil rates. “Dapat bantayan natin mabuti ang global oil prices dahil pwedeng bumaligtad nanaman ang sitwasyon ng presyo ng langis.”
He prodded the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Energy to closely monitor profiteering as part of government efforts to stabilize oil prices and guard against hoarding to preempt price surge.
Image credits: wingatchalian.com