BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Transport group United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (UNDOC) is threatening to go on a five-day strike.
It has called on the government to temporarily suspend the 12 percent value added tax (VAT) and excise tax on fuel to temper the incessant increase in fuel prices.
According to Diego Malacad, UNDOC secretary-general, they plan to go on strike by the end of March if their request falls on deaf ears.
Malacad also said they have started getting in touch with the academe, religious and business process outsourcing sectors about the planned strike.
Aside from the suspension of VAT and excise tax on fuel, UNDOC is also seeking an increase in public utility vehicle (PUV) fare – an additional P5 for national PUVs and P2.50 more for provincial PUVs.
Some lawmakers are already calling to either reduce or suspend the excise tax on oil products, citing the adverse economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Gas prices are expected to further soar by as much as P3.80 for gasoline and P5.50 for diesel this week.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) urged consumers to report to the agency oil retail outlets with unreasonable petroleum prices amid the non-stop oil price hikes for the past nine weeks.
Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. said the agency will not allow retail outlets to take advantage of the current situation in the oil market.
DOE Oil Industry Management Bureau director Rino Abad said as of March 1, nationwide prices of gasoline range from P60 to P83 per liter, P52 to P65 per liter for diesel, and P61 to P68 per liter for kerosene.
Erguiza said the retail price of diesel increased from P37.59 per liter in March 2019 to P54.20 in end-February 2022, or an increment of P16.61 per liter in nearly three years.
Gasoline prices also went up from P43.39 per liter to P69.28 per liter in the same period.
“As the pandemic is slowly improving, economic activities surge resulting to (the) utilization of more energy. The transportation was most hit and the demand for oil products has significantly increased,” Erguiza said.
He added the crisis between Russia and Ukraine aggregated the already tight supply of oil in the world market.
The Philippines does not directly get crude oil from Russia but from Asian countries such as China, South Korea, and Japan which are sourcing from Russia. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
