ILOILO CITY – Governors in Western Visayas yesterday called for the removal or reduction of taxes on oil products as transport groups continued their strike for the second straight day against the continued increase in oil prices.

Capiz Gov. Victor Tanco called for the suspension of the expanded value added tax on petroleum products.

“The government should address (the rising oil prices). I am in favor of the suspension of the EVAT on oil products for at least a year,” Tanco said in a telephone interview.

He said the suspension of taxes will give relief to the transport sector by bringing down the cost of fuel which has sharply risen because of record high prices in the world market.

Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. said he is also in favor of the removal or suspension of EVAT on oil products because of the burden of high oil prices not only on the transport sector but on all consumers.

Antique Gov. Salvacion Zaldivar-Perez, chair of the Regional Development Council in Western Visayas, said she favors the reduction but not the total removal of EVAT on oil products.

“The government also needs revenues so we should compromise and reduce the taxes so that there will be no sudden drop in revenues. We need a win-win solution,” Perez said, also in a phone interview.

Gov. Isidro Zayco of Negros Occidental also supports the reduction of the tax to lower oil prices.

“The total removal of the EVAT will mean billions of pesos of revenues lost but the high prices of oil products also harm the economy,” Zayco said.

“We hope that the government will listen to their (transport groups) demands and settle for a compromise agreement,” he also said.

The officials said the problem of high oil prices should be addressed because the transport strikes affect the economy.

“We are losing much because of transport strikes,” Perez said.

Tupas said Monday's strike which paralyzed Iloilo province also affected businesses in Iloilo City, the regional center, because only few were able to go to the city.

Zayco said the two-day strike in Negros Occidental significantly affected economic activity in the region because consumers could not go to shops and stores.

The officials made the call as the strike paralyzed public transport in the provinces of Capiz, Aklan and Negros Occidental. The strike in Iloilo ended midnight Tuesday.

Around 99 percent of public transport in Roxas City and the two congressional districts of the province joined the strike, said Joel Perion, president of the Alliance of Roxas City Tricyle Operators and Drivers Associations and provincial coordinator of the Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston).

In Aklan, drivers of jeepneys, tricycles and small buses stayed off their routes for the second straight day.

Felix Sefres Jr., president of the Federation of Aklan Public Transport Inc., said more than 90 percent of public transport in the provincial routes including northern Antique joined the strike.

Public transport in the capital town of Kalibo also remained paralyzed, according to to Dan Magallanes, president of the Federation of Kalibo Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations.*NPB

back to top