SEN. Mar Roxas yesterday said he was counting
on the energy summit called by President Arroyo to tackle his
proposal to suspend the collection of the 12 percent value-added
tax on oil products for at least six months.
"It’s the job of government to reassess or
change solutions when facts change. It’s foolish not to change
medicines when the infection has already morphed to something
else," said Roxas, chair of the Senate committee on trade and
commerce.
He said that in 2005 when the expanded
value-added tax law was passed, the annual budget deficit was
P250 billion while oil was at $30 a barrel in the world market.
Today, the government claims to have zero deficit with oil at
$100 per barrel.
