Manibela urges govt to scrap fuel taxes

TRANSPORT group Manibela on Thursday called on the government to remove the excise tax and value-added tax on fuel, a day after a driver died during a payout in Quezon City. Manibela Chairman Mar Valbuena said drivers were being squeezed by rising oil prices and delayed relief, prompting the group to press for the immediate removal of fuel taxes on the first day of the nationwide transport strike. Valbuena said the government should not wait any longer to lift the excise tax on fuel and the VAT, which further increased the burden on drivers. He said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should prioritize the suspension of the excise tax, the removal of VAT on fuel and oversight of oil prices so oil companies would not take advantage of the increase in petroleum prices. He said drivers were left with grievances over the fuel aid distribution and the suspension of the fare increase. Valbuena said drivers were asked to submit multiple documents before the payout, including copies of their OR/CR (Official Receipt and Certificate of Registration), franchise papers and other requirements, but many still did not receive assistance. He said some lists were also misplaced, claiming that names submitted in Pasig City ended up in Caloocan City, while drivers along their Nagtahan route did not receive any fuel subsidy. Valbuena said transport groups submitted lists four times, but none of their members on that route received aid. “The giving of aid should be orderly, now that someone has died. Some felt dizzy, some were not given anything. What we received was not aid, but only inconvenience — we lined up the whole day, did not drive, and in the end there was nothing to receive,” he said. A Manibela member also appealed to the government to act on the drivers’ concerns after the driver died during Wednesday’s payout in Quezon City. “Please think carefully about how you will solve our situation, because every member of Manibela is already suffering. We do not want what happened yesterday to happen again. Someone already died, but still got nothing,” the member said. Valbuena said the group’s protest was also driven by the continued increase in fuel prices, which he said had entered its fourth week. He said the transport sector was being affected by the continued rise in diesel prices and by what he described as the government’s lack of control over pump prices. Valbuena also said the problem was not the war in the Middle East itself, but businessmen who, he claimed, were taking advantage of the situation by raising petroleum prices. He said removing fuel taxes would help drivers and other sectors directly affected by rising oil prices, including farmers, fishers and workers. Valbuena questioned the allocation of government funds, saying only P2.5 billion of the P21-billion subsidy package would go to drivers and others directly hit by the oil price increase. He said some groups of 60 to 100 drivers had only four, five or eight members who were able to receive aid. Valbuena said around 80 percent joined the strike, particularly in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. He said at least 30,000 jeepneys in Metro Manila joined the strike and that the figure in the National Capital Region could reach at least 100,000 if transportation network vehicle services, motorcycle taxis and UV Express units were included. Valbuena said the government was not prepared for the strike despite earlier statements from the group that the protest would begin on Wednesday and last for three days.

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