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Albay Rep.JoeY Salceda called on
oiI companies not to exploit last
weekend's attacks on Saudi Ara-
bian oil fields to unduly raise
pump prices, as he noted that
some of them were already try-
ing to price uP old inventories as
if these were new supplies.
Spe;king to reporters at
Malacaiang on WednesdaY,
Salceda said the earlier warn-
ings issued bY government offi-
cials about a looming Price in-
crease were Premature and that
oil companies must justify any
raise they nowPlanto impose.
"l think they have to Prove
the public that they bought oil secretaryKarl Chua
"TheY '-that the oil suppty had returned
at those prices"' he said.
are taking advantage ofthis Pre-
disposition toward Panic."
As to proposals to susPend
the fuel excise tax, Salceda said
the Tax Reform for Acceleration
and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act was
clear that this could onlY be
done if the average Price of
Dubai crude would reach $8o
per barrel for three months.
Knee-ierk reaction
"So if there's one thing this
administration will not be
known for, it's knee-jerk reflex
reactions," he said.
Meanwhile, Finance Under-
cited reports
\ fo4o1a - Aa,t
that may stem from the attacks'
to normal following the drone
attacks on the Saudi oil fields.
"So if that is the case, then
there would be no impact on
our oil supply and there's no
further action needed. So we
to monitor that the
iust, have
iupply that are coming from the
Middle East are indeed ade-
quate," he said.
Saudi Arabia is the top sup-
plier of crude oil in the Philip-
pines.
For TRAIN law repeal
At the House, the oPPosition
Bavan Mrma Party list grouP
."il"d fot the repeal of the
TMIN laWln view of Price hikes
j agani Zarate urged House col-
"Some s'ectors are saylng
that there would bb around P3
per liter increase on oil Prices
because of the attacks and the
resulting droP in oil suPPlY
would also Push the Prices of
other goods to skyrocket," the
group's chair, forrner ReP. Neri
Colmenares, said in a state-
ment. "So it is imPerative that
the TRAIN law is now re-
pealed."
Colmenares noted that un-
der the law, which took effect in
2018 and which critics blamed
for the soaring inflation rate
that year, excise on diesel and
frude went uP to P4.5o thisYear
HIKE PRICE$
and would rise further to P6 in
2020.
The excise on gasoline also
increased to P7 in 2018, P9 this
year, and would go uP to P1o
next year, he added.
Proposed amendment
The TRAIN law allows the
increase in the excise on fuel to
be suspended whel the global
price of oil averages at least $8o
Der barrel for three consecutlve
'months, But critics argued that
the threshold was set too high,
resulting in Policymaker; being
unable to susPend last Year's oil
price hikes as inflation soared' i
Bayan Muna ReP. Carlos ls-
'
leagues to Pass the Makabayan
bloc's House Bill No. 243 to I
amend the TMIN law.
"We hope that the House I
leadership would Prioritize this
bilt," he said. "We are also call-
ing on the Supreme Court to de-
cide on our petitian to iunk the
TBAIN law so as to shield con-
s{imers from another wave of l
price shocks."
The bill would reverse what
it considered to be the TRAIN
law's "regressive and antipoPr"
sections, especially the addi
tional excise on Petroleum
products. -REPoRrs FRoM LEIIA a.
SAIAVERRIAANOOJYAP INQ