Fuel marking volume breaches 3 billion liters — DOF

MANILA, Philippines — The volume of fuel products marked by the government has breached the three-billion liter mark this month, the Department of Finance (DOF) said over the weekend.

Citing the latest data from the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said 3.21 billion liters of petroleum products have already been injected with markers under the government’s fuel marking program as of Feb. 14.

Of this volume, 2.37 billion was marked by the BOC, while the remaining 913 million was administered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Dominguez said 16 oil companies in the country are already participating in the program.

These include Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc., Chevron Philippines Inc., Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc., Seaoil Philippines Inc., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Insular Oil Corp., Filoil Energy Co. Inc., PTT Philippines Corp., Petron Corp. and Warbucks Industries Corp.

Subic-based Micro Dragon Petroleum Inc., High Glory Subic International Logistics Inc., Marubeni Philippines Corp., Goldenshare Commerce, Jadelink Subic Inc., and Era1 Petroleum Corp. have also complied with the program.

The fuel marking program is part of Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, wherein petroleum products for domestic consumption with proof of payment of taxes will be marked.

The government formally commenced the implementation of the program in August last year, with the first live marking of petroleum products at Seaoil Bulk Terminal in Mabini, Batangas.

The BOC said earlier it saw an increase in the reported volume of fuel products imported into the country, as well as revenue collections from oil imports last year, following the implementation of the fuel marking program.

Customs assistant commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla said the bureau’s revenue collection from oil imports jumped by 59.3 percent to P145 billion last year from P91 billion in 2018.

He said the volume of imported fuel imports likewise increased by 20.8 percent to 14.5 billion liters from 12 billion liters.

Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko said the increase happened even before the fuel marking program was fully implemented because of the “fear factor.”

Dominguez said this could be a manifestation that some oil importers were not fully compliant with customs and tax laws before the program.

Tionko assured the government would conduct audits on the companies who reported a significant increase in their volumes and tax payments.