MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said he has been telling farmers and households as early as September that the price of oil in the world market would steadily increase.
“Oil prices impact not only the cost of transportation, but also food and other necessities. Since we are not an oil-producing country, we import our oil requirements, and even our electricity is powered by oil, coal and other sources which are affected by petroleum prices,” he said.
Moreno said government must sacrifice some revenues from excise taxes on oil and taxes on electric consumption, proposing a 50 percent cut on such taxes.
“Now, with the Ukraine-Russia conflict escalating into a war, all the more oil supplies will become scarce and expensive,” he said. “The impact on the lives of Filipinos will be so difficult in the coming months. It is time government steps backward… to alleviate people’s sufferings.”