DOTr, DOF mull restructuring excise tax on automobiles

MANILA, Philippines - Amid the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Department of Finance (DOF) are mulling restructuring the excise tax on automobiles.

DOTr spokesperson Cherie Mercado yesterday said Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III regularly coordinate, as the former supports the idea of putting an excise tax on vehicles.

Dominguez earlier said that under the DOF’s timetable, the proposed implementation of the excise tax on vehicles would start in 2018.

He explained that excise tax on automobiles would not only finance the infrastructure needs of the country but would also address traffic woes.

“We are going to make public transport more available. We have to discourage new cars because just look at the traffic, it’s not moving,” Dominguez said.

Mercado, on the other hand, said the government would fix the public transport system in the metropolis before implementing the excise tax.

They hope to “migrate the ones bringing cars to public transport.”

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) officer-in-charge Tim Orbos supports restructuring the excise tax if it would mean reducing the number of vehicles on the road.

Orbos, however, stressed that this should be studied carefully.

The DOTr’s accomplishment report stated that the actual carrying capacity of EDSA is 7,500 vehicles per hour per direction or 1,500 higher than the maximum capacity of 6,000 vehicles per hour per direction.

DOTr Assistant Secretary Mark Richmund de Leon said 75 percent of the vehicles using EDSA are private cars while 25 percent are public vehicles.

Meanwhile, Orbos said the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (IACT) is contemplating long-term solutions that would address the traffic problem.

Orbos said the government cannot control car sales because free enterprise is something that is hard to restrain.