EDITORIAL — Where are the fuel taxes going?

Fuel prices are finally plummeting after the United States and Iran formalized a deal this week ending the war that began on Feb. 28.

As domestic pump prices reflect the fall in global crude oil prices, the government can pursue measures to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. It can, for example, simplify the procedures for shifting to solar power in residences and offices. It can intensify the harnessing of wind power and support waste-to-energy initiatives, to address both the garbage problem and energy supply.

The steep prices at the pumps led to a spike in demand for electrified vehicles, both domestically and around the world. The government can provide incentives for a faster shift to e-vehicles and hybrids in the mass transport sector, including investments in locally produced EVs and HEVs.

People are interested to know how much the government reaped in windfall earnings as it held on to fuel excise taxes and the bigger 12-percent expanded value-added tax on petroleum consumption.

The windfall excise tax and EVAT earnings, collected on the back of motorists’ suffering for four months, were not factored into the 2026 General Appropriations Act. The government must report to the nation how it intends to utilize what President Marcos himself described as a windfall.

It couldn’t have all gone to the fuel subsidies and other forms of cash dole-outs that the government chose over broader relief for all motorists through fuel tax suspension or reduction.

Those who belong to the groups that qualified for the subsidies complained of the disorganization in the distribution, with one prospective beneficiary collapsing and dying while waiting in a long line in the scorching summer heat.

Surging fuel prices drove up the inflation rate to 7.2 percent in April from 4.1 percent in March – the fastest pace since March 2023 when the COVID pandemic was wreaking havoc on public health and the economy.

Inflation has since slowed down with the reduction in pump prices as the Middle East situation started stabilizing. But the public deserves to know if the amount of windfall taxes collected by the government was worth the spike in consumer prices.

The government must provide a full accounting of what it collected from taxpayers, and where the taxes are going.