Baguio Rep. Go welcomes Palace’s suspension of fuel excise tax

November 17, 2018 National News

The palace has announced earlier that the President has approved the recommendation to suspend the fuel excise tax under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law for the year 2019. 
“I laud the President for approving the recommendation of our economic managers to suspend the excise tax that was issued through a memorandum by Executive Secretary Medialdea,” Go said.
“It can be regarded as a preventive measure in addressing the continuous rise of inflation for this year.  This is in line also with the joint resolution I filed for the immediate suspension of the increases in excise tax for fuel as well as the succeeding schedule of increases,” the lawmaker said.
It can be recalled that Congressman Go has filed Joint Resolution No. 31 that also calls for the suspension of fuel excise tax. As provided in the said resolution, recent record of inflation rate hits at 6.7%, the highest in a span of nine years and above the government’s target for 2018. The economic managers have recently revised the medium-term macroeconomic assumptions for 2018 to 2022 reflecting the development at the national and global level and taking into account the more expensive oil in the world market, tightening of monetary policies and higher domestic inflation.
“While the approved suspension covers only for the next year, I hope that they also consider suspending the final schedule of fuel excise tax increase for the year 2020,” Go said.
“If we will not do this, people will suffer more. It is the clamor of our people to stop the continuing increase of prices of our basic commodities. This suspension is a step to control and mitigate the current unabated increase in prices,” Go said. ABN