With discussions into the relief efforts of various government agencies amid the ongoing fuel crisis in the country, various lawmakers questioned the Department of Finance (DOF) over conflicting information during a joint committee hearing this Wednesday.

As part of the Joint Committee on Legislative Energy Action and Development session regarding the review of what a potential suspension of excise tax on fuel would entail for the country’s revenue generation, committee Chairperson Miro Quimbo called on DOF Undersecretary Karlo Adriano to present their findings.

Adriano said that the department was still undergoing a monthly review through the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) to consider including both diesel and gasoline in its earlier suspension of excise tax on LPG and kerosene.

The undersecretary asserted that its consideration came down to who would benefit the most from the enactment of such a ruling, which in the case of LPG and kerosene was the vulnerable sector.

However, when it came to diesel and gasoline, Adriano said that the highest consumption of the said products was observed in the richest sectors in society based on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Family Income and Expenditure Survey.

This information alarmed Quimbo and his co-lawmakers as they stated that the DOF had not previously mentioned the information, only claiming that they were awaiting the mandate of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to hand down the suspensions on petroleum products.

The solons were further confused when Adriano reported that the tax cut would translate to around P38 to P39 billion in lost income for the government over a three-month span, noting that it roughly came out to P430 million in losses per day.

“So you mean to say, based on that P430 million, the excise tax collection will be P154 billion in one year? That’s not the data you presented to us before,” Quimbo said.

The Marikina 2nd District Rep. said that the amount conflicted with the DOF’s previous presentation of supposed revenue from the whole year on all excise taxes that did not go over P140 billion.

“I’m sorry I ask this, because each time we ask…when we want to project collection, you tell us a lower number; when we ask you for the loss, it becomes bigger,” he said.

Quimbo noted that the DOF had affirmed in prior hearings that the government was going to be able to afford the tax cut on all petroleum products.

He explained that there has been a disconnect between the findings of the financial agency and the capacity of companies to absorb the impact of lost revenue.

“When we had hearings before, we never heard of this, you never told us. You never told us that 50 percent of retail consumers were in the top three decile,” he expressed.

Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Cavite 1st District Rep. Jolo Revilla, on the other hand, sought to denounce the notion that the legislation would only benefit the rich.

Rodriguez noted that the rich only made up around 1.5 percent of the country, while in reality, a vast majority of Filipinos were directly affected by the ongoing crisis.

“Certainly, this is new, that the suspension of all petroleum products would not be implemented because only the rich will be benefitted; of course not,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, Revilla noted that one of the sectors widely impacted by the ongoing crisis was the middle class, which contributed greatly to the country’s economy.

“It is not only the transport sector that feels this crisis but everyone, and most of these people are middle class that always think that only the vulnerable sector receives relief,” he said.