BY JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat
Posted 8:54 p.m., May 14, 2008
The Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) belittled the government’s proposal to extend a P2.00/liter fuel subsidy to all public utility vehicleoperators after the Land Transportation and Franchise Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said that the local petroleum dealers will shoulder the said subsidy.
“Sa kabila ng pagmamayabang ng gobyerno sa pamamagitan ng LTFRB na magbibigay ito ng P2.00/liter fuel subsidy, ay lumilitaw na wala pang katiyakan kung sino ang aktwal na popondo sa naturang subsidy” (Despite government’s boast that LTFRB will be able to provide the P2.00/liter fuel subsidy, it turns out that the there is no exact source from which they will get funds for the subsidy) says Piston secretary-general George San Mateo.
“Bakit hindi maobliga ng gobyerno ang mga dambuhalang oil companies na sagutin ang fuel subsidy at bakit ipinapasa ng gobyerno sa mga local petroleum dealers ang P2.00/liter fuel subsidy? Ipinagyayabang yan ng gobyerno yun pala sa mga local oil dealers pala nila ipapasa iyan” (Why can’t the government oblige big oil companies to shoulder the fuel subsidy and why are they passing it to the local petroleum dealers? They used to boast about it and now they are passing in on to local oil dealers), San Mateo added.
Piston believes that this is not fair for the local petroleum dealers to shoulder the fuel subsidy when large oil companies like Shell, Chevron and Petron are earning more than expected and the government is raking in money from the 12-percent value added tax as well. (Bulatlat.com)
