Members of the transport group PISTON hold a protest at a gasoline station in Quezon City on October 15, 2024, against the latest round of fuel price hikes imposed by oil companies. The price increases include P2.65 per liter for gasoline, P2.60 for kerosene, and P2.70 for diesel. The group aims to highlight the growing burden of rising fuel costs on public transport workers and calls for government intervention and stricter regulations on oil price adjustments. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Transport group PISTON urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to scrap the Oil Deregulation Law and the excise tax on fuel as pump prices rose by more than P2 per liter on Tuesday.

The Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act, passed in 1998, scrapped government subsidies to keep prices stable in favor of letting competition and market forces determine prices.

 PISTON staged another protest in front of a gasoline station along Philcoa in Quezon City, where the group's national president Mody Floranda said the latest increase will add to the burden of public utility jeepney (PUJ) drivers and operators.

The Department of Energy has cited violence in the Middle East as among the factors for the price increase, but Floranda, a candidate for senator under the Makabayan coalition, said this should not immediately affect prices at the pump.

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"Anuman ang nagaganap na agresyon, dapat hindi siya automatic na tumataas ang presyo dito sa atin, sapagkat mismong galing sa Department of Energy ay merong 45 days na supply tayo ng krudo at yung ginagamit natin krudo sa kasalakuyan ay nabili pa natin ito sa mas mababang halaga na umaabot ng 80(dollars) per barrel sa international market," Floranda said.

(Whatever aggression is happening should not mean automatic price increases because the Department of Energy itself has said the country has 45 days worth of fuel and that we are using fuel bought at lower price on the international market)

'OIL PRICE HIKE TO COST PUJ DRIVERS P81/DAY'

He said the price increase will mean around P81 in lost income for PUJ drivers each day.

Floranda explained, the recent oil price hike will translate to about P81 per day lost of income for every PUJ driver.

"‘Pag tiningnan natin sa loob ng 25 days ay halos P2,400 plus yung direct na nawawala na dapat ito ay ginagamit na ng ating mga drivers at operator sa pangangailangan ng kanilang pamilya," Floranda said.

(If we project that to 25 days, that would be more than P2,400 lost that drivers and operators could have used to provide for their families)

He said that repealing the Oil Deregulation Law, value-added tax and fuel excise tax would mean savings of P10 per liter for jeepney drivers and operators and P40 for tricycle drivers and for motorists.

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law allows the suspension of excise taxes on fuel when the average fuel price for three months is above $80 per barrel.

The government's economic team has, in response to past calls to suspend taxes, warned that doing so would mean less money for social services and slower economic growth.

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'FUEL SUBSIDY IS NOT ENOUGH' 

PISTON said it welcomes the fuel subsidy from the government but that this will not solve or offset the series of oil prices hikes.

"Ang subsidy ay once in a blue moon lang — isang bigay lang 'yan. Walang saysay kung patuloy naman na tumataas ang presyo ng petrolyo kaya ang sinasabi natin, para hindi isang sektor lang yung makinabang tanggalin yung mataas na buwis sa produktong petrolyo," Floranda said.

(The subsidy only comes once in a blue moon and is of little use against the continuing increase in petroleum prices. That is why we are saying that removing the high taxes on petroleum products will benefit more than just our sector)

PISTON said some of its members have received fuel subsidies from the government but others are still waiting to get theirs.