Diesel and gasoline prices will be rolled back again by more than P2 per liter, completing two straight months of hefty reductions.
Kerosene, a commodity crucial in Filipino households as well as a base for aviation fuel, will be reduced by P1.50 to P1.70 per liter.
Local oil firms indicated that the price slashes will likely jumpstart over the weekend and culminate again on Tuesday.
Pump cost downtrends are still due to the collapsing prices in the world market.
As a result of the sequential cutback in oil prices in the past eight weeks, the Development Budget Coordination Committee has firmed up a recommendation for the government to withdraw from an earlier plan to suspend the next tranche of excise taxes on petroleum products.
Under the next tranche of excise taxes on petroleum products, the excise tax of diesel products will rise to P4.50 per liter starting next month from P2.50 per liter at present. On the other hand, gasoline excise tax will climb to P9 per liter from the current P7 per liter.
For Liquefied Petroleum Gas, the excise tax will rise to P2 per liter by the new year from P1 per liter at present.
The DBCC said that the recommendation to continue with the higher petroleum excise taxes is still up for discussion in the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and subject to the approval of President Duterte.
The DBCC also said that in a special meeting last Nov. 29, it decided to “recommend the continued implementation of the second tranche of the excise taxes on petroleum products” as prescribed under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act.
The government body said that “the recommendation comes in light of the favorable outlook in world oil prices, where the Dubai crude oil prices have gone down by 14 percent from an average of $79 per barrel in October down to $68 per barrel so far in November.” (Myrna M. Velasco)
