MANILA, Philippines – Wala pang timeline sa implementasyon ng batas na nagbibigay kapangyarihan kay Pangulong Ferdinand MarcosJr. na suspendihin o bawasan ang excise tax sa produktong petrolyo kasabay ng pagtaas nito dahil sa tensyon sa Middle East.
Ito ay ayon kay Finance Undersecretary Rolando Ligon, Jr. nitong Lunes, Abril 13, sa ikalawang araw ng briefing ng mga ahensya ng pamahalaan sa implementasyon ng Executive Order 110, na nagdedeklara ng state of national energy emergency at nagbibigay ng unified package para sa kabuhayan, industriya, pagkain at tranpostasyon.
“We’re still awaiting the instructions from the Office of the President with regards to the lifting of the excise tax. If the Office of the President releases [the Executive Order] today, the effectivity will be one to two days,” sinabi ni Ligon sa Legislative Energy Action and Development Committee ng Kamara.
Ang batas na nagbibigay kapangyarihan kay Marcos na suspendihin o bawasan ang excise tax ay pinirmahan bilang batas noong Marso 25.
“Right now, wala pa pong directive sa amin. Hinihintay pa po namin. Once the President issues an Executive Order on suspension of imposition of excise taxes on fuel, the Finance department will be issuing necessary memoranda to the Bureau of Customs (BOC),” dagdag ni Ligon.
Mababawasan ang presyo ng produktong petrolyo ng P6 kada litro sa diesel, at P10 kada litro sa gasolina kung ipatutupad ang suspensyon ng excise tax dito, ayon sa Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev).
Sa kabila nito, sinabi ni Ligon na ang suspensyon ng excise tax ay para lamang sa bagong inventory o suplay ng langis at hindi sa kasalukuyang suplay na mayroon na ang bansa.
“Yes [it is only for new inventory]. It will be hard [to implement suspension]…with regards to administrative feasibility, reducing the excise tax dues on fuel supply that are already here,” dagdag pa niya.
Iginiit naman ni House ways and means panel chairperson at Marikina Second District Rep. Miro Quimbo na ang refund ay hindi paraan para ipatupad ang suspensyon.
“We are not asking you to take the excise tax back. What we are saying here is to give them [oil companies] credit for the amount [of excise tax] that they have paid in advance. So that once the suspension is lifted, we can start applying that,” ayon pa sa mambabatas.
“Can you not do that? You have an inventory coming from the BOC of the amount that they have paid. We can even see there which gas companies are not paying excise tax and smuggling their supply,” dagdag pa niya.
Sumagot naman si Ligon sa argumento ni Quimbo at sinabing ikokonsidera ito.
“We will consider that, Mr. Chair. You’ve been considering that for quite some time. I think we need a categorical answer. You have to tell us it’s impossible to implement or not. Because otherwise, the pronouncement of the President will not be felt immediately, which is needed by our people,” ayon pa kay Quimbo.
“We need a categorical answer coming from you. When we say immediate, it’s as soon as the President announces the following day, we will reduce regular premium by P10, diesel by P6, kerosene by P4.50, and thereabouts,” dagdag ng mambabatas.
Dito na sumagot si Ligon at sinabing ang DOF ay naghihintay na lamang ng direktiba sa Office of the President kung sasakupin ng suspensyon ng excise tax ang inventory na narito na sa Pilipinas. RNT/JGC
