ILOILO City – Drivers and transport operators blamed two laws for the continued spike in the prices of petroleum products and basic commodities.
Panay and Guimaras Alliance of Transport for Rehabilitation called on President Rodrigo Duterte to scrap the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) and the oil deregulation laws.
These laws and the 12-percent value-added tax are “the root cause of the continued increase in the prices of commodities and unreasonable taxation,” said Edgar Salarda, coordinator of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide – Panay, which is part of the transport alliance.
These sentiments were contained in the alliance’s position paper on the proposed phaseout of jeepneys 15 years old and older and whose diesel engines cannot be replaced with the government-favored Euro 4 engine.
The transport alliance believes the “nationalization of the oil industry” will curb oil price increases and “boost our country’s economy.”
Moreover, Salarda said the TRAIN law’s impact extends beyond the energy and transportation industries.
“Indi lang limited sa langis ang epekto sang TRAIN law kundi sa tanan nga mga balaklon,” he said.
The TRAIN law raised the ceiling for income tax but set yearly increments in the excise tax on oil and fuel products until 2020./PN
