United Opposition (UNO) vice presidential candidate Jejomar C. Binay renewed his call for the scrapping of the Expanded Value Added Taxes (EVAT), particularly on oil and electricity.

Binay cited figures from the Department of Energy (DoE), Family Income Expenditures Survey (FIES) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showing that as of 2008, the transport sector and ordinary households who use kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) account for anywhere from P18 billion to 30 billion of the country’s EVAT take.

Binay also cited a DoE estimate which said a one-peso per unit increase in diesel price increases the generation cost of electricity, as follows: Luzon, P0.0002; Visayas, P0.0015; Mindanao, P0.0002, and entire Philippines, P0.0004.

He noted that a P1 per unit increase in bunker price translates to higher generation costs, as follows: Luzon, P0.0002; Visayas, P0.0198; Mindanao, P0.0659, and entire Philippines, P0.0161.

“EVAT is an unnecessary tax that needs to be reviewed and scrapped to give relief to the suffering Filipino working class. Raise their wages. Give them a fighting chance against oppressive taxes,” Binay said.

“Major oil players have raised pump prices anew, this time without notice. The latest in the series of oil price hikes has brought diesel prices to P33.25 to P35.80 per liter while gasoline is now retailed at P42.70 to P45 to a liter. Kerosene is now priced at P41.15 to P47.50,” he lamented.

“We should scrap EVAT. Government has other means to earn revenues to plug the deficit caused by its fiscal management. It only has to intensify its tax collection as well as anti-smuggling efforts in order to plug revenue leakages. Government should not burden the poor with taxes,” Binay said.

Transport groups have already called for a P0.50 increase on fares in order to cope with the rise of fuel cost. Commuters who have fixed incomes and low wages are then burdened with additional expenses.

"Sadly, it is not the major oil players who are suffering the burden of the additional tax because the cost is passed on to end users-- jeepney and taxi drivers, motorists and industries that depend on fuel to operate,” he added.