Marcos Jr. awaits panel report on emergency powers

NEW YORK, USA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he will declare urgent the proposed bill from the House of Representatives granting him special powers to temporarily reduce or suspend excise taxes on fuel once he receives the committee report for the measure.

Just this Monday (Manila time), House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III and House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos filed House Bill No. 8292, which seeks to amend Section 148 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 by adding a provision that would allow a sitting president to suspend the collection of excise taxes.

Meanwhile, Senator Bam Aquino last week filed Senate Bill No. 1923, which also seeks amendments to the same section of the law.

“There’s no point declaring that as urgent before the committee report has been completed, and that is what I told them, both Houses. Because when you declare a bill as urgent, the shortcuts only begin in the plenary debates,” he said in a press conference on Tuesday, 10 March (NY time).

Marcos Jr. said that once the bill is declared urgent, the majority floor leader will read the committee report and then proceed to the third reading, a shortcut that would allow the bill to be passed as soon as possible.

“What we are asking is very simple. When the price of oil reached $80 per barrel on average for a month, then the emergency powers can be exercised. That does not mean that you will necessarily do it, but it can be exercised by the President, that’s all we asked,” he said.

The current price of WTI crude in the world market was at $100.9 per barrel, while Brent crude was at $102.8 per barrel, far higher than the $80 benchmark required for him to exercise emergency powers.

Despite this, the President said the country remains in good shape in terms of fuel supply, even as petroleum companies have already imposed significant price increases effective from 10 to 16 March.

“We are also awaiting some supplies that are currently in transit. What I am asking now is to check those that are in transit because baka nasa lugar ito ng peligro. Pero hindi naman daw. Yung pagsara ng Strait of Hormuz, hindi naman kasama sa calculation so far. That doesn’t mean we are not doing anything. Naghahanap tayo ng iba’t ibang lugar na makapagbibigay ng supply sa atin. We are talking to various countries where we do not normally buy oil from. But hopefully, we can make an agreement with them and that we will get further supply from them,” he explained.

On the other hand, the President said the real problem the government has to deal with is the uncertainty over how long the conflict in the Middle East will last.

“How long would this last? Would the price hikes be permanent? That’s our problem right now. Even JP Morgan, which I have talked to, they are analyzing the current flow of the financial market. And they also lamented that the hardest part of it is knowing when the situation will last. Kasi kung alam na natin ang presyo ng langis, alam na natin ang effect, so makakapaghanda tayo. Pero ang presyo ng langis ay hindi lamang sa supply, volatility is also a big factor. Kapag hindi tayo nakakasiguro kung gaano katagal pa ito, the supply would be affected,” he further explained.

“We don’t know if this war will last, and when the actual war will end, and would look like, and how everything will change. Dahil kahit ano pa ang mangyari, magbabago ang sistema. Those were the unknowns that we have to deal with now,” according to the President.