Transport workers threaten to hold strike if VAT is imposed on oil

February 8. 2005

"The transport workers will not hesitate to hold a nationwide strike if Congress pursues its plan to lift the exemption of oil and its by-products from the Value Added Tax, " Rudy De Guzman, Secretary General of the National Transportworkers Union (NTU), said in a press conference this morning.

"The transport workers are already hard up with the continuous rise in the prices of oil and the government should stop from adding further misery on us and our families while oil companies easily get away with high prices even when international oil prices are going down," De Guzman added.

At present, the House of Representatives has passed HB 3555 increasing VAT percentage from 10% to 12% while lifting exemptions that include oil. The Senate is now deliberating on its own version which it said would be different from the House version. However, Senators are hinting that oil will be included among the items that will be covered by VAT.

Meanwhile, Danny Edralin, chairperson of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), said, "The VAT increase will not only be shouldered by the workers in the transport industry but by the consuming public as a whole since industries like electricity using oil would also be gravely affected. "

The oil companies are jacking up their oil prices without the benefit of any public hearing since the industry was deregulated during the time of former Pres. Ramos. In contrast to the position of the Department of Energy, Petron Corp. and Caltex Philippines Inc. raised again only last Monday the price of diesel by 30 centavos per liter, gasoline by 40 centavos and liquefied petroleum gas by 40 centavos per kg., while Petron and Caltex followed suit a day after Pilipinas Shell and small oil companies raised their prices on Sunday.

"NTU-APL will not call for an additional fare increase but will demand for an oil price rollback. We are being shortchanged whenever oil prices in the international market go down and VAT imposition will only worsen and will never solve the crisis," Edralin added.

The NTU-APL demanded from Congress not to pursue its plan of lifting the exemption of oil from VAT or else they will be obliged to take the streets and hold a nationwide strike to press for their legitimate demands.