MANILA, Philippines — Several senators on Monday sponsored a bill seeking the suspension of excise taxes on fuel during extraordinary circumstances. Senate Bill (SB) No. 1982 was sponsored by Senators Pia Cayetano, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Loren Legarda, Francis Pangilinan, Erwin Tulfo and Joel Villanueva. Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the chamber is expected to approve the measure on Tuesday after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. certified it as urgent. The House of Representatives earlier on Monday approved its counterpart fuel tax relief bill. The senators co-sponsored SB 1982 under Committee Report No. 48, which provides for the automatic suspension of excise taxes on petroleum products during extraordinary increases in global oil prices. The measure, principally authored by Ejercito, seeks to amend Section 148 of the National Internal Revenue Code to allow the President to suspend or reduce excise taxes on petroleum products under defined conditions. “Every peso added to the price of fuel means less food on the table, less money for school, and more hardship for families already struggling to get by,” said Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Energy. “I believe that the revenues foregone by suspending excise taxes in these extraordinary times are incomparable to the extraordinary relief that we can provide for our people,” Ejercito said in his co-sponsorship speech. Legarda said the measure is needed amid the rapid and continuing rise in fuel prices triggered by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. “As we have seen time and again, this situation triggers a domino effect,” she said.