The Department of Finance said government coffers will vomit P4.1 billion following President Marcos Jr.’s decision to lift the excise tax on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene for three months.

“For LPG and kerosene, if you take a look at the law, it’s a maximum of three months muna. So, let’s talk about three months. Assuming a $100 price per barrel, on average. So, for full suspension of LPG and kerosene, the losses will be around P4.1 billion pesos for three months,” Finance Undersecretary Karlo Fermin Adriano told reporters in a Palace briefing on Tuesday.

Adriano said the Development Budget Coordination Committee, in its recent meeting, did not include lifting excise taxes on gasoline, as it would not provide "meaningful relief" and would result in substantial revenue losses, potentially risking the country’s deficit.

“Now, if you decide to include a suspension of diesel and gasoline and LPG and kerosene on top, it will be around P43.6 billion pesos in losses in three months,” Adriano stressed.

Regarding proposals to defer the value-added tax on fuel products, the DoF official said the government could reap P13 billion in collection since the excise tax for kerosene and LPG is deferred.

“Hindi po siya windfall profit, it’s additional VAT collection, because of the higher fuel price. So, if we are talking, again, a $100 price per barrel average for three months and assuming there is already a suspension on LPG kerosene, around P13 billion additional VAT collection,” he said.

“Again, if you consider full suspension of diesel and gasoline, if you include it, the total losses will be P43.6 billion. And your additional VAT collection will be around P13 to 14 billion and then there’s a negative revenue loss of around P30 billion,” he stressed.

Adriano said lifting the excise tax for LPG would mean P39.96 savings for an 11-kilogram cylinder, and around P5.6 per liter for kerosene, done to benefit poor families.

“Now, ang tulong po na ito ay nakatuon po sa pinakamahihirap. Based po sa datos ng Family Income Expenditure Survey noong 2023, ito po ay isang survey done by the PSA, around 50% of the consumption of kerosene is coming from the bottom 38th – ito po iyong pinakamahihirap. About LPG, using the same survey, FIES, around 56 percent of the consumption of LPG ay doon po sa bottom 70th. So, talagang direktang tulong po ito sa mga nangangailangan na pagsuspinde po ng LPG at kerosene,” he said.

Despite this, he said the DBCC will continue to monitor the situation if it can forgo the excise tax for diesel and gasoline.

“Ang DBCC po will continue to monitor the situation. And actually, there’s a monthly review of the policy. But for now, nonetheless, with coordination from DOE and the Department of Transportation, nirekumenda rin po ng DBCC ang pagbigay po ng targeted subsidies through the P10 fuel discount,” he said.

The P10 fuel discount for public utility jeepneys officially started on Tuesday in 52 participating gasoline stations.

Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said the P10 discount for PUJ drivers is not complicated because the deal is between the government and the gasoline stations.

“Dito sa P10 po natin na fuel subsidy, ang babayaran po natin ay ang mga gasoline station. Again, iyong ating mga drivers and operators, kapag nagpakarga po sila ng diesel, automatic reduction na po iyan, lalabas sa kanilang resibo. For example, kung P150 ang presyo kada litro, P140 na lang po ang lalabas sa kanilang resibo. The payment would be between Landbank and the participating gasoline stations,” he said.