Marcos administration withholds decision on fuel excise tax cut

MANILA — The Marcos administration is holding back on a decision regarding fuel excise tax relief even as international oil prices have climbed to levels that would normally warrant government intervention.

Crude oil prices have reached the $80-per-barrel mark, a benchmark that historically triggers consideration of fuel tax reductions or suspensions to cushion consumers from rising energy costs. However, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said Wednesday that President Marcos has yet to make a final determination on the issue.

Castro indicated that the Development Budget Coordination Committee, the government's main fiscal policy body, is still in the process of evaluating whether to recommend a suspension or reduction of the fuel excise tax to the President.

The timing of any policy decision remains unclear, with no indication when the DBCC would present its recommendation or when Marcos might announce his position. The delay comes as Filipinos continue to grapple with elevated fuel costs, which have cascading effects on transportation and basic commodity prices across the archipelago.

Previous administrations have periodically suspended or reduced fuel excise taxes when crude prices exceeded threshold levels, using the measure as a temporary relief valve for inflation pressures.