BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN & CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Senatorial aspirant and Sorsogon Gov. Francis “Chiz” Escudero yesterday aired four possible solutions that may mitigate the impact of increases in prices of fuel to Filipino consumers, stressing that there is no need for President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a state of economic emergency.
Escudero said that it will not give additional power to the president if he declares a state of economic emergency.
Instead, he raised four options that maybe considered by President Duterte, including the call for a special session by Congress to pass a law that gives power to the Departments of Energy and Finance to lower that excise and value added taxes imposed on fuels; reactivation of the Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF); establishment of strategic petroleum reserve and review of the Oil Deregulation Law.
By removing excise tax and VAT and petroleum products, Escudero said it will lead to the reduction in prices of fuel by P3 to P5 per liter.
As soon as prices of fuel stabilizes, Escudero said that government may re-impose the excise tax and VAT on fuel products.
OPSF, on the other hand, was previously used by the government in providing subsidy to oil companies, when prices of fuel increases.
Escudero said the stockpiling of petroleum reserve, which being adopted by many countries, is a must to ensure its stable supply.
Oil companies imposed yesterday huge increases on prices of fuels, averaging P3.80 per liter for gasoline, P5.50 for diesel and P4.10 per liter for kerosene.
House Minority Leader Stephen Paduano also called for the temporary suspension of excise tax to petroleum products and the review of oil deregulation law.
Provincial Consultant Alfredo “Albee” Benitez stressed the need to accelerate the distribution of support to the transport sector to cushion its impact.
ON SURVEYS
“Surveys are always considered a snapshot of the people’s perspectives on the day it was done.”
Escudero defined surveys as such when asked for his reaction to results showing him consistently in the top three spot.
Escudero pointed out that surveys come out two to three weeks or sometimes a month after the fieldwork was done. He cited for example that if a survey comes out today, it is at least two to three weeks old. What happened in the past two weeks, like if a candidate gets bashed, will not be captured by the survey that will come out tomorrow.
So, a survey is an accurate snapshot of what people thought think two or three weeks ago. It is not 100 percent true or accurate but it will serve as a good guide, he said.
Escudero said that his principle is that, whoever gets a high rating in the surveys must not be over confident but must continue to campaign. And whoever, gets a low rating should not get mad and stop campaigning. In the end, the votes they garner during the day of the election is the one that will count and not the rating in the survey.
He said it would not matter what number he will land on the day of the election because the salary of the number one or 12 senator will still be the same.*
