PARTY-LIST CONGRESSMAN REACTS TO ANNOUNCEMENT OF FUEL PRICE HIKES
In the wake of New Year’s Day announcement of fuel price hikes effective January 2, 2018, a party-list congressman has voiced his policy views on how new excise taxes will have an impact on pump prices.
“We have seen in previous big-time price hikes that the oil firms staggered their price adjustments. They might, as they have in the past, spread out the seven pesos in installments. Maybe the staggering could be a P1.50-hike per week. There are other combinations they can do,” 1-PACMAN Party-list Representative Michael Romero, an economist, said Monday evening in a statement.
P7.00 per liter is the 2018 excise tax rate on gasoline according to the TRAIN Law, Republic Act 10963.
Romero also said oil firms might also consider not passing on to consumers the full cost of the excise taxes because they are aware that Filipino consumers are price-sensitive.
“If the oil firms' economists say the P7.00 is too much to pass on fully at the gas pump, they might recommend to management that the pass on be anywhere within the range of 50 percent to 90 percent of the full P7.00 excise tax per liter,” Romero said.
The congressman, who is also a young business tycoon, said motorists and commuters now have more transport options than before.
“Many owners of gasoline-powered vehicles could use their vehicles less. Some could now switch to public transportation because there are different options to choose from. The TNCs and TNVS will see their ridership spike because private vehicle owners’ gasoline-powered cars will spend more time parked at home,” Romero also said.
He suggested that the MMDA and DOTR “now seize this opportunity of a real shift in consumer choices.”
“More point-to-point buses should ply the major roads to ferry office workers and students. For jeepney drivers, the government can revive the Pantawid Pasada Program to subsidize PUJ purchases of diesel which now has an excise tax of P2.50 per liter.” Romero recommended. (END)
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