House on standby for special session to address oil crisis

MANILA – Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Monday said the House of Representatives is on standby in the event President Rodrigo Duterte calls for a special session of Congress to pass legislation suspending or reducing fuel excise taxes.

“We are more than willing to hold a special session in case President Duterte calls for it,” Velasco said in a statement.

He said the chamber is looking at all possible options to cushion the impacts of rising oil prices on Filipinos, including suspension or reduction of fuel excise taxes, especially in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

“We can’t just sit idly by while our kababayan are suffering from the impacts of unabated oil price hikes. We must do something; we must find solutions to this crisis,” Velasco said.

Velasco said he expects the Fuel Crisis Ad Hoc Committee to fully assess the economic impact of the drastic increase in oil prices and come up with recommendations on how the government can address the problem at the “soonest possible time”.

He, meanwhile, lauded the government’s move to provide fuel subsidies to sectors directly affected by rising oil prices.

“I believe that what the government is doing, giving subsidies to targeted beneficiaries who are severely affected by unabated oil price hikes, is the best solution for now,” Velasco said.

The government had announced it is preparing to release PHP2.5 billion for subsidy program providing fuel vouchers to qualified members of the public transport sector, on top of the PHP500 million in fuel discounts for farmers and fisherfolk.

Following their initial hearing, the Fuel Crisis Ad Hoc Committee said it is planning to formally ask Duterte to call for a special session so that Congress may proceed with the deliberation and eventual passage of House Bill 10438, suspending excise taxes on fuel.

In a press conference, House Committee on Ways and Means chair Joey Salceda assured that the legislators have already studied the implications of its passage.

Salceda said the government is expected to collect around HP77 billion in additional value-added tax revenues in 2022, which he refers as the “Katas ng TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law)” that can be mobilized as relief for the rest of the year.

Committee on Economic Affairs chairperson Sharon Garin noted that when the House convenes in a Special Session of Congress, they would also work on reviewing Republic Act 8479 or the “Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998”, particularly its provision on the unbundling of oil prices and inclusion of the minimum inventory requirements provision.

Garin announced that the House would still wait for the final date but Salceda fervently hopes that the President calls for the Special Session by mid-March 2022, stressing the urgency of the matter.

Salceda said Duterte could also declare a state of economic emergency brought about by the fuel crisis, enabling him and the local government units to utilize the government’s calamity fund as added financial support for the affected sectors.