FOUR lawmakers filed House Bill 8495 which sought supplemental funding of P52.8 billion to protect transport workers, farmers and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the economic effects of the conflict in the Middle East.
The amount consists of P12 billion in fuel subsidies for public utility vehicle drivers and other transport workers; P2.8 billion in agricultural subsidies for farmers and fisherfolk; P18 billion for the repatriation of OFWs affected by the conflict; and P20 billion for reintegration programs for displaced OFWs.
HB 8495 was filed by Akbayan Representatives Chel Diokno, Perci Cendaña, and Dadah Kiram Ismula with Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao.
“Given the indispensable role of petroleum in transportation, agriculture, industry, and other essential economic activities, the risk of supply disruptions has already contributed to a sharp increase in global and domestic fuel prices,” they said in the bill’s explanatory note.
The disruptions “threaten to significantly raise the cost of transportation, food production, and basic goods, placing substantial economic pressure on Filipino households and sectors most sensitive to energy price fluctuations,” they said.
The agricultural sector is particularly vulnerable, since fertilizer prices are closely tied to global energy markets, they said.
Last Wednesday, the House approved on second reading HB 8418, which seeks to authorize the president to suspend or reduce fuel excise taxes during national or global economic emergencies.
House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, one of HB 8418’s authors, said the bill was made for times when global disruptions quickly drive prices up and Filipino families need quick and precise government action.
“This bill gives the president a measured tool to cushion that shock, with clear triggers, clear limits and clear reporting when the prices of fuel and basic commodities get too high,” Marcos said.
In a speech at the plenary, Marikina 2nd District Rep. Miro Quimbo, the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, called the proposal a necessary sacrifice on the government’s part to extend “a lifeline” to workers and the poor.
“This is simply a delegation of a legislative power, which Congress has done many, many times. In fact, in that very same provision on Section 148 [of the Internal Revenue Code], there’s already a delegation there,” Quimbo said during the committee hearing.
Under the bill, the president “may, upon the recommendation of the” Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), “in coordination with the” secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE), “suspend the imposition of, or reduce the excise taxes on fuel,” subject to conditions.
These conditions are: when the average Dubai crude oil price based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MoPS) has reached or exceeded $80 per barrel for a month immediately preceding the issuance of the suspension or reduction order, when the president has declared a state of national emergency or calamity, “and such condition has resulted in extraordinary increases in domestic pump prices of petroleum products”; the suspension or reduction of the tax can only last for up to six months, unless Congress extends it or ends it earlier through a joint resolution.
The president must submit to Congress a report within 15 days from the suspension order’s issuance and every month afterward on the estimated foregone revenues, and the impact on “inflation, fuel prices, and other economic activity.”
The DBCC is composed of the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Finance, Department of Economy, Planning, and Development, and Office of the President.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas serves as adviser to the DBCC.
