ILOILO City – In this city, the average price increase on petroleum products is P3.39 for diesel and P3.77 for premium gasoline as of Jan. 18, according to the militant Bagong Alyasang Makabayan (Bayan) Panay.
Diesel rose to P39.93 from P36.54 and gasoline to P48.84 from P45.07 since Dec. 25, 2018, it noted.
Bayan Panay set a mass mobilization tomorrow at the Iloilo Terminal Market to denounce the TRAIN Law as culprit for the incessant oil price hikes.
The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act, officially cited as Republic Act 10963, is the initial package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on Dec. 19, 2017. It consists of revisions to the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, or the Tax Code. This reform includes packages that make changes in taxation concerning the personal income tax, estate tax, donor’s tax, value added tax, documentary stamp tax, and the excise tax of petroleum products, automobiles, sweetened beverages, cosmetic procedures, coal, mining and tobacco.
This year’s second tranche of the excise tax on oil petroleum products hits the minimum of P2.24 per liter (including VAT) for diesel and gasoline.
Raymundo Parcon, president of the Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (ICLAJODA), said the oil price hike is “sakit-sakit naman sa mga drivers naton…every week guro sige ang saka sang presyo sang diesel.”
Drivers and operators plan to discuss what to do to protect themselves from the adverse impacts of the price increase, said Parcon.
“Balakhuon naman ang mga drivers…daku naman nga huol,” he lamented./PN
