GRACE POE ON SUSPENSION OF EXCISE TAX HIKE ON FUEL

The time to suspend the excise tax increase is now or sooner; not in January, 2019. That is per se and allowed as a safeguard in the TRAIN Law under RA 10963.

Ang batas ay para sa tao. Unang konsiderasyon lagi, dapat mamamayan. Kung lalong nakapagpapahirap sa tao, i-suspend agad. Umariba na lagpas US$80 ang Dubai crude oil price base sa Mean of Platts Singapore.

Second, the totality of situation: The poor are now poorer and the inflation brings hardships and difficulty to citizens and affecting the entire economy. The Committee on Public Services which I chair conducted public hearings in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Huge spikes in prices of basic commodities and oil prices are substantial-all indications of greater poverty.

Salamat kung pinakinggan at nadama ito ng Pangulo.