Moreno promises law cutting excise tax on oil

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno yesterday promised that should he win the presidency, he will write to Congress to certify as urgent the passage of a law to cut excise taxes on oil products.

“The president may ask Congress to pass a law immediately because there is a sense of urgency and a state of emergency. If that were me, I will write to Congress to suspend the rules and pass a bill cutting the taxes of oil and electricity,” he said.

The mayor said he is aware that cutting oil taxes can result in revenue loss for the government, but “what is important is to alleviate the people’s problems.”

After a 10th straight week of price hikes on oil products, Moreno said he understood calls of transport groups for a fare hike and vowed to balance the interests of the commuting public and the transport sector.

Meanwhile, Moreno’s camp wrote to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) yesterday to ask about the P203.8-billion estate tax liabilities that the Marcos heirs owed to the national government.

In his letter, Aksyon Demokratiko chair Ernest Ramel asked BIR commissioner Cesar Dulay if the tax bureau has renewed its written demand for the Marcos heirs to pay the tax debt.

The Marcoses, especially the estate manager, the late dictator’s son and presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr., should pay back the government after the Supreme Court in 2007 affirmed the Court of Appeals decision on the Marcos estate tax liabilities, Moreno’s camp said.

The mayor earlier vowed to allot the Marcos tax debt to social services if he wins as president.