Marcos on bill allowing him to suspend fuel excise tax: I'll declare it as urgent

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Wednesday (Manila time) said that the measure giving him the emergency power to temporarily suspend or cut oil excise tax would be certified as urgent. 

''Actually I will declare it as urgent once the…Because there's no point declaring it as urgent before the committee report has been completed,'' Marcos told reporters in New York City.

''And that is what I told them, both Houses. And I said, the minute that you have completed your committee reports…Because the – when you declare a bill as urgent, it the – the shortcuts, if we say, only begin on the plenary debates,'' he added. 

On Tuesday, the House ways and means committee approved an unnumbered substitute bill allowing the President to suspend or reduce excise tax on fuel amid the conflict in the Middle East.

The measure allows the President to reduce excise tax on fuel products for six months at the maximum, provided that the average Dubai crude oil price exceed US$ 80 per barrel for one month immediately preceding the suspension or reduction of the excise tax. 

Meanwhile, the Senate committees on ways and means and energy will conduct a hearing on March 11 on at least five bills seeking to allow the President to suspend the excise tax on oil. 

Department of Energy Secretary Sharon Garin earlier expressed support for the measure, saying a two-month suspension could lower diesel prices by as much as P6 per liter.—AOL, GMA Integrated News