Philippines: No Suspension of Oil Import Tariff, VAT

 

Providing fuel subsidy to transport groups is merely a stopgap measure to help jeepney and tricycle operators and drivers cope with the rising cost of fuel brought about by tensions in the Middle East, Malacañang said.

"We never meant this to be sustainable. But given the high fuel prices and given the possible impact that this will have on ordinary people, we felt that we had to take some action," said Presidential Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang.

"We are studying longer-term actions which I'm not at liberty to reveal right now with regard to dealing with the volatility in fuel prices. But, yes, it is a temporary solution."

To help the public transport sector cushion the impact of a series of oil price increases, President Aquino said he has already approved the proposed subsidy of a one-month fuel subsidy to public utility vehicles, except buses.

At the House, Minority Leader Edcel Lagman slammed on April 1 the P500 million fuel subsidy for jeepneys and tricycles as a tentative and selective solution to the escalating fuel crisis which demands a more lasting nationwide all-sector solution.

In a statement, Lagman said a cosmetic balm to avert a transport strike is a deceitful approach being deodorized as a "populist" initiative.

"The fuel subsidy is a haphazard remedy even as the executive order admittedly has not been detailed, crafted and finalized," he said.

Meanwhile, Transport group Piston (Pagkakaisa ng Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide) lamented efforts of the government to portray March 31, 2011's protest actions as a failed transport strike.

George San Mateo, Piston secretary-general, dismissed the claim of Malacañang, the LTFRB and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) that their "day of protest" was a "flop."

San Mateo said they had no intention to stage a crippling public transport strike especially in Metro Manila last March 31, 2011.

"We were clear in saying that we were not staging a strike but only a public transport caravan. There was never an intention to stage a crippling strike," he said.

San Mateo warned that the March 31, 2011 "day of protest" was merely a preliminary protest action, with a nationwide public transport strike or holiday being planned sometime in April or May.