Additional oil taxes to burden the people
Despite incessant oil price hikes, the Arroyo regime plans to raise tariffs on the importation of petroleum products from 3% to 5-7%. Oil prices are sure to rise anew as a result, but what's worse is that a P2.00 excise tax will be directly charged to consumers for every liter of all petroleum products except LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). Malaca�ang expects to earn P34.3 billion annually from these taxes, which are the most onerous among the additional taxes that the regime plans to impose on the people.
No one believes the regime when it says that the additional taxes will be borne by the oil companies. In fact, even the oil companies have warned that they will be raising gasoline prices by up to P1.20 per liter and diesel by P1.50 per liter. They also plan to raise the price of LPG by 50 centavos to P1 per kilo.
Malaca�ang is fully aware of the great possibility that the imposition of these additional taxes will fuel the people's widespread anger. The regime thus shrewdly plans to time the imposition of additional taxes whenever crude oil prices dip in the world market. This way, however, the people will never have any relief. Whether prices of petroleum products go up or down in the world market, there will be oil price hikes in the Philippines.
The average 50 centavo price increase by oil companies every time crude oil prices rise in the international market is already most onerous for the people. The additional oil taxes that come on top of this will be an even greater burden.
In the face of this, progressives in congress have correctly called for the nationalization of the oil industry and the junking of the oil deregulation law. Oil prices have already increased more than 60 times in the oil industry deregulation law's eight years of existence.
The latest increase in the prices of principal petroleum products took place on August 3, when gasoline, diesel and cooking gas prices went up by 50 centavos. It was the seventh time gasoline prices were raised and the sixth time diesel prices were hiked since January 2004.
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