SEN. Mar Roxas yesterday chided the administration for giving a political spin on his proposal to suspend the 12 percent value-added tax on oil, "apparently to avoid transparent debate on the issue."

He said the proposal only seeks to ensure fairness and equity in an "extraordinary" time where the price of crude oil in the world market has breached the $100/barrel mark.

"Our principle is that the first and best use of money is always by the person who earned it. Sa panahon ngayon, mas maganda na nasa bulsa ni Pedro ang pera niya kaysa nasa bulsa ng Malacañang," Roxas said.

"The situation when the call for additional taxes was first made is no longer present. Back then, we had an annual government deficit of around P250 billion, and oil was around $30 a barrel. Now, we are in fiscal balance, and at the same time, oil has reached new highs," he said.

"The problem is real and it must be addressed now. It is a great disservice to the people whenever its own government dismisses substantive issues as being politically-motivated and therefore unworthy of comment or further study," Roxas said.

He said the volatility of oil prices in the world market deserves more than just "tokenism" on the part of the administration.

He assailed administration officials for labeling his proposal as "populist" and "politically-motivated."

"In any debate, once you start attacking the motives and attaching labels to the other party, it means you find it difficult to substantiate your position," Roxas said.

"Ang lumalabas, ang simpatiya ng pamahalaan sa taumbayan ay nagkakahalagang 20-50 sentimo lang kada litro. Bakit hindi gawing P4 kada litro ng diesel o P60 kada tangke ng LPG?" he said.

He warned that a stronger peso combined with higher oil prices can deflate the economy and lower the purchasing power of millions of households, especially those dependent on dollar remittances.

"Once the peso-dollar rate falls below the P40-mark, thousands of workers in the export sector and millions of OFW families would be financially crippled, thus further shrinking the middle class," Roxas pointed out.

"Our economy, which is consumption-driven, is in danger of stalling if we continue to turn a blind eye on the people’s weakening power to consume. By suspending VAT on oil, we are reflating the economy and preventing an inflationary spiral," he said.

"The problems are real. Millions of households do not feel the gains of a strong economy because they are too busy stretching their finances and looking for extra sources of incomes. The government must be the first to recognize these problems as they are, and look for specific, workable solutions, rather than dismissing these realities as political noise," he said.

He said the government must instead work to collect taxes that are lost to corruption and other leakages. He cited estimates of the finance department itself that in 2006, P107 billion in potential income taxes were not collected because of leakages, the bulk of which were corporate, business and professional income taxes.