Malacañang on Monday, October 15, asserted that an executive issuance ordering the temporary suspension of higher excise taxes on fuel will be forthcoming.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo confirmed President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s decision to suspend next year’s scheduled tax hike on fuel products under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
The directive is said to be in response to the rising prices of commodities and inflation in the country.
“The fact alone that the economic managers made the announcement is already a confirmation that the President did so,” Panelo stressed in a Palace press briefing.
According to Panelo, the position of the Palace is that before the suspension can be made, the conditions imposed by law must first be met. If these are met then all that is needed is an official document validating the economic managers’ recommendation.
“There will be a paper documenting that. Antayin natin ‘yan,” the Secretary said, adding that the decision to suspend excise taxes on oil products was based on studies made by the country’s economic managers.
Meanwhile, Panelo assured the public that the President would not allow any delay in getting the third major telecommunications player in the country.
He said President Duterte would take over the selection of the third telco if officials tasked to handle it fail to pick one on time.
“What the President said during the Cabinet meeting is if there is no decision yet, he will take over. That is what he said, because there have been complaints that this is being delayed,” the spokesperson stated.
‘DA to impose SRP on rice this week’
During the same press briefing, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it would start imposing suggested retail prices (SRP) for rice this October.
DA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said he would meet with various stakeholders in the rice industry on October 18 to discuss the matter.
“We will set SRPs on the last week of October. On October 18, that’s a Thursday, magmi-meeting ang rice stakeholders… at isi-set na namin ‘yung SRP ng bawat klase ng bigas,” he said.
The Agriculture Chief further announced that the National Food Authority (NFA) has approved the importation of 750,000 metric tons of additional rice to augment the supply of rice in the markets.
Meanwhile, Piñol said the DA will be starting a local procurement program for the protection of local farmers and also to form the buffer stocks for 2019. (PCO-Content)
