Senate may call special fuel aid bill session

The Senate may hold a special session during its month-long break to pass a crucial bill seeking P52.8 billion in supplemental funding for sectors — particularly transportation, farmers and fisherfolk — hit hard by the soaring oil prices, Senator Risa Hontiveros said Monday.

Congress is currently in recess, though under the Constitution it can convene a special session at any time upon the President’s call, especially if the legislation is urgent.

Senate Bill 1986 is the counterpart measure of House Bill 8495 filed by Hontiveros’s allies in the lower chamber.

The twin measures seek to expand the subsidies for public utility vehicle drivers, including ride-hailing car operators, farmers, fisherfolk and distressed overseas Filipino workers stranded in the Middle East, amid the worsening oil crisis caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Hontiveros stressed the need to swiftly pass the bills to ensure uninterrupted transport operations and the food supply, despite the skyrocketing fuel prices that are expected to rise further due to the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

She expressed confidence the Senate’s version of the bill has a high chance of passing.

“Although we have adjourned sine die, we can hold a special session even for a week to pass this supplemental budget,” she said in Filipino in a radio interview, noting that a delayed government response could trigger inflation and economic slowdown.

Initial projections indicate it would take a month or more for fuel prices to ease once the bill granting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emergency powers to suspend or reduce the excise tax on petroleum becomes law.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the enrolled bill is still pending in the House of Representatives and has not yet been transmitted to Malacañang for Marcos’ approval.

The Chief Executive is adamant about signing the proposed law, which he had certified as urgent, unfazed by the threat of an economic slowdown and the projected P236 billion revenue loss.

Nevertheless, Hontiveros said a supplemental budget from Congress must complement the bill because the prices of basic commodities and services are likely to spike during the lag period due to the lack of subsidies.

Transport groups have stressed that subsidies alone are not enough to sustain their operations, unless President Marcos immediately suspends the excise tax on petroleum products.

Likewise, a subsequent major price hike, without prompt intervention, may force fishermen to stay ashore, leading to a drop in fisheries production.

Earlier this month, a fisherfolk group warned that any subsequent oil price hike, without quick government intervention, may force fishermen to stop fishing, leading to a drop in production and a supply shortage.

Of the proposed P52.8-billion supplemental budget, P12 billion will be allocated for fuel subsidies for PUV drivers, while P2.8 billion will go to agricultural and fishery subsidies for 1.1-million small farmers and fisherfolk.

The outlay would just be enough to ensure three months of continued operations of these vulnerable sectors, according to Hontiveros.

“If we get the P2.8 [billion] in additional support for small farmers and fisherfolk, they will be able to continue their planting, harvest, and fishing to ensure a steady supply in the markets, and food prices will not increase immediately,” she said.

Meanwhile, the lion’s share of the budget, or P38 billion, will bankroll the repatriation and reintegration of distressed OFWs in the conflict-stricken Middle East, where over 2.4 million Filipinos are employed.

During a Senate hearing earlier this month, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said it had only P1.76 billion in its emergency repatriation fund, which is grossly insufficient to cover the repatriation-related expenses of millions of OFWs in the Middle East.

OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan said that funding for each OFW was pegged at only P135,000 to P140,000 during the early days of the war.

However, as the conflict persists and drives up transportation and service costs, an additional P10,000 will be incurred per person, bringing the total to P150,000 per head.