Hontiveros: Lift excise tax on oil to avert harsh impact of big time oil price hike

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday said the anticipated harsh impact of the impending big time oil price hike on consumers this week can only be mitigated by the lifting of the excise tax being imposed on oil products under the TRAIN Law.

Hontiveros made the call after oil companies during the weekend announced a possible oil price hike this week ranging from P5.30-P5.50/L for diesel, P3.60-P3.80/L for gasoline, and P4.00-P4.10 for kerosene due to the volatility of oil prices in the world market amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"Sobrang mabigat ang magiging epekto nito sa ating mga kababayan - sa ating mga drayber, mga mangingisda, maliliit na negosyante, at maging sa ating konsyumer ng kuryente lalo na sa mga off-grid islands na gumagamit ng diesel para sa mga generation power plants," said Hontiveros.

She added that oil, being a socially sensitive product, remains one of the major sources of energy in the country especially for transportation. The country consumes some 400,000 barrels of oil every day, according to statistics.

It can be recalled that Hontiveros was the lone dissenter in the Senate when the TRAIN law was passed. "Naalala ko, ang pinakamalaking pangamba ko noong tinutulan ko ito ay ang maaring mangyari sakaling patawan ng excise tax ang mga produktong petrolyo na hindi natin kontrolado ang galaw ng presyo," said Hontiveros.

Thus, for the senator, the only way to insulate the people from the heavy impact of unrelenting oil price hikes is to lift the imposition of excise tax on these products.

"Matagal na nating pinapasan ang bigat ng ipinataw na excise tax sa produktong petrolyo sa ilalim ng TRAIN Law. Mula P2.50 na excise tax kada litro ng gasolina noong 2018 ay umaabot ng hanggang P10/liter simula noong nakaraang taon. At sa bawat pagtaas pa ng presyo nito ngayon ay may katumbas din na pagtaas sa sinisingil na tax," explained Hontiveros.

She added that other than the domino effect of oil price hikes on other products, one sector hit directly by the imposition of excise tax on oil is the electricity rates especially in off-grid islands where power comes mainly from diesel-run generators of the National Power Corporation (NPC).

"Nabalitaan ko rin mula sa Romblon Electric Cooperative at Association of Isolated Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) na simula ngayong buwan ay magkakaroon ng dagdag singil sa kuryente sa mga isla na maaring umabot nang hanggang P2.00/kWh sa susunod na 3 taon batay sa naging desisyon ng Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) nitong nakaraang Enero. Ito raw ay para sa recovery ng excise tax sa langis na i-rerekober o pass-on ng NPC sa mga konsyumer. Dagdag na pabigat ito sa ating mga kababayan na naninirahan sa off-grid islands," said Hontiveros.

She asserted that lifting the excise tax on oil and suspending the implementation of that ERC order on a rate hike would relieve the people of the burden imposed by oppressive economic policies, including the Oil Deregulation Law which she said, must be reviewed or repealed to protect the interest of our consumers.

"Kung ang implementasyon ng "Doble-Plaka Law" ay tamang naipahinto dahil sa oposisyon ng mga riders, mas higit makatwiran sa aking tingin, na mapigil ang "Doble-Bigat" na pasanin mula sa big time oil price hike na ito. At kung hindi ito agad magagawa, responsibilidad pa rin ng pamahalaan na magbigay ng ayuda sa ating mga kababayan katulad ng fuel subsidy o Pantawid Pasada para sa ating mga tsuper, magsasaka, at mangingisda," ended the senator.