Bill seeking to suspend fuel tax refiled in Senate  

MANILA, Philippines — Suspending the excise on gasoline and diesel is seen by Sen. Grace Poe as the best way to rein in pump prices, now that average Dubai crude continues to exceed $80 (about P4,480) per barrel.

Poe has refiled her bill seeking to amend Section 148 of the National Internal Revenue Code in order to automatically suspend the excise tax on gas and diesel, subsequently snipping off P10 from the price of gas per liter and P6 from the price of diesel.

“The wheels of the economy can go faster if public transport is able to move people to work or buy goods and essentials that they can afford,” she said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that inflation has risen in all 17 regions of the country, with some areas outside the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) having higher inflation due to elevated transport costs.

The PSA said transport accounted for 31.7 percent in the rise in inflation in June, with inflation for diesel already at 92.5 percent and for gasoline at 53.9 percent.

“Taking off P6 from the price of diesel per liter during critical times can help our drivers ply their routes again. At the same time, it will lower the cost of transporting goods,” Poe said.

It is estimated that 20 percent of the 900,000 jeepney drivers have left the trade due to losses from high pump prices.

Former senator Panfilo Lacson earlier backed Poe’s proposal, saying the government has afforded over 100 lines of value-added tax (VAT) exemptions for so long.

Lacson said the government could have earned at least P117 billion in additional tax revenues in 2018 alone, even with a reduced VAT rate from 12 to 10 percent, by removing 78 lines of exemption from some sectors such as power, cooperatives, housing and economic zones.

Meantime, the economic managers of the new administration said the government stands to lose over P100 billion in revenues if the excise on gasoline and diesel is suspended.

“If the government can afford to lose P251 billion to benefit big companies under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act in the first two years, why can’t it do the same for our public utility drivers, delivery riders and ordinary workers who bear the brunt of higher transport costs?” Poe quipped.

End of ‘endo’ sought

Meanwhile, the national employment strategy and the end of contractualization or “end of endo” are among the priority measures being pushed by Sen. Joel Villanueva in the 19th Congress.

Villanueva filed the first 20 of his priority bills to continue his advocacy and fulfill his campaign promises of job creation and security.

“For our second term, our job in the Senate is still jobs. We are pushing for job opportunities and job security through these proposed laws to strengthen our nation against poverty and any crisis,” Villanueva said.

Among Villanueva’s top priority bills is the “Trabaho Para Sa Lahat ng Pilipino Act” which establishes the National Employment Action Plan to set the government’s direction for job creation. The National Employment Action Plan will also continue the objectives of the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) currently being implemented by the NERS Task Force headed by the Department of Trade and Industry.

“Since the NERS set its targets only up to this year, we aim to extend it and transform it into the National Employment Action Plan to go beyond the target of creating two million jobs for the next few years. Job creation should be sustained based on the prevailing socioeconomic trends while facing any crisis,” the senator said.

Villanueva said he is also prioritizing the “end of endo” or the Security of Tenure Act for workers in the private sector.

“We have been fighting for the passage of the Security of Tenure Act into law since 2016. Although it was vetoed, it went through rigorous and comprehensive consultations with all concerned sectors so that both workers and employers stand equally in the proposed law. This is already long overdue, which is why we will be working with the Department of Labor and Employment, National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Finance, workers groups, business associations, and other sectors for the passage of the End of Endo Act into law,” he said.

Villanueva filed a similar bill for the regularization of casual or contractual employees who have been working for more than five years in national government agencies and those who have been working for more than six years in local government units.

Aside from the National Employment Action Plan, other new proposals from Villanueva include amending the CREATE Law to allow work-from-home schemes for businesses in special economic zones, the Expanded Unemployment Insurance Act, and a P100 billion stimulus fund and wage subsidy for small businesses under the MSME Stimulus Act.

Villanueva also refiled other bills that advance the welfare of Filipino workers, such as the institutionalization of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged / Displaced Workers Program, Freelance Workers Protection Act, Alternative Working Arrangements Act, and the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers.

15-day paid leave bill

In another development, a measure seeking to provide 15 days of paid leave every year to employees, regardless of their employment status, whose spouse, parent, or unmarried children are suffering from serious illness was filed by Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.

“To further come to their aid and rescue, this bill also seeks to grant the same benefit to employees who themselves are suffering from serious illness,” Revilla said.

He said his Senate Bill No. 24, titled the “Family and Medical Leave Act of 2022,” was consistent with the constitutional provision that the Filipino family is the foundation of the nation, and the state’s mandate to strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development.