THE Department of Finance recommended Tuesday, March 15, a subsidy of P200 per month per household for one year instead of the government suspending the excise tax on fuel products amid the rising prices.
But Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said during President Rodrigo Duterte’s Talk to the People Address held Tuesday night but aired Wednesday morning, March 16, that suspending the excise tax on fuel products will only benefit those who have cars or the rich people. Dominguez instead proposed that the government provide “targeted relief to the most vulnerable sectors” through unconditional cash transfers worth P200 per month, or P2,400 per year to the bottom 50 percent of all Filipino households.
It is not yet clear though how the cash aid would be distributed to the country’s 12 million poor households, which Dominquez said will benefit directly from this alternative to excise tax suspension. “This is our firm recommendation: retain the fuel excise taxes imposed under Train Law and provide targeted subsidies to the lowest 50 percent of the households in the Philippines,” he said.