Oil firms raise prices yet again; Piston seeks fuel tax abolition

OIL companies in the country implemented another round of oil price hikes Tuesday morning, Oct. 19, 2021, this time raising diesel prices by P1.50 per liter and gasoline prices by P1.80 per liter.

They also increased the price of kerosene by P1.30 per liter.

Pilipinas Shell, PTT Philippines, Total, Seaoil, Petron and other oil firms announced their price hikes Monday on social media.

This is the eighth straight week that oil firms have raised prices.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) weekly monitoring shows that from early this year, the price increases have totaled P16.50 per liter for diesel, P17.85 for gasoline and P14.19 per liter for kerosene.

With the rise in oil prices, the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) Cebu called on the government to abolish or lower the tax levied on each liter of oil to keep price increases minimal.

Greg Perez, chairman of Piston Cebu, said oil price hikes greatly affect the livelihood of drivers. Higher gas prices would mean less income to bring home to their families.

He said they were already affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as passengers may occupy only 50 percent of the capacity of public transportation so social distancing can be observed.

The new fuel price hikes would just make life more difficult for them.

Perez said drivers are not the only ones affected but also the riding public, who will pay higher fares.

Under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law passed in 2017, higher excise taxes were imposed on petroleum products.

In 2020, the excise tax per liter of volume capacity on unleaded premium gasoline was P10 (up from P8 in 2018); kerosene, P5 (from P3 in 2018); and diesel fuel, P6 (from P2.50 in 2018).

The excise tax for liquefied petroleum gas per kilogram was P3 (from P1 in 2018), according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

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