Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual said on Monday Executive Order (EO) No. 41 that prohibits the collection of pass-through fees by local government units (LGUs) is a timely policy for the upcoming Christmas season.
Although EO 41 is not only for the holidays during the ‘-ber months’, the policy will somehow alleviate the inflationary pressures due to external and internal factors, Pascual said in a radio interview.
“Mas malaking impact sa ating mga kababayan kung magtataas-presyo kung malapit sa Pasko (The impact is worse for our fellow Filipinos if there are price increments near Christmas),” he said.
On September 25, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed EO 41 to discontinue the collection of pass-through fees to all motor vehicles transporting goods and merchandise while traversing national roads.
Pascual said truckers and manufacturers welcomed this policy of the Chief Executive as these pass-through charges add on the input and output costs of products sold in the market.
He added that this policy is also aligned with the three-year food logistics action agenda, in which the second agenda aims to cut the logistics cost.*PNA
