Jamaine Punzalan

Motorists queue for fuel at a gas station in Pasig City on October 10, 2022. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File

Article (news)

FUEL PRICE HIKE

Harlene Delgado

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177260709284220221010-oil-price-hike-MD--9.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Motorists queue for fuel at a gas station in Pasig City on October 10, 2022. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Malacañang on Wednesday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would certify as urgent a proposed measure granting him temporary authority to  reduce excise taxes on petroleum products as oil prices rose due to the US-Israel war on Iran. </p><p>Marcos earlier said he would talk to Congress leaders about the proposal to give him the “<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/3/marcos-mulls-subsidy-free-rides-lower-fuel-tax-as-oil-prices-surge-1146">authority to reduce excise tax on petroleum products </a>should Dubai crude exceed $80 per barrel.”</p><p>“Yes po, dahil po napapanahon,” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a press briefing when asked if the President would declare the measure as urgent. </p><p>For now, Castro said the target rate for the excise tax reduction has not yet been discussed.</p><p>“Wala pong napag-usapan kahapon, at makikinig naman din po siya sa mga economic team kung ano iyong pinakamaganda po na reduction rate,” she said.  </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/2/dotr-mulls-fuel-subsidy-as-oil-prices-surge-on-iran-conflict-1208">DOTr readies fuel subsidy as oil prices surge on Iran conflict</a></div><p>Asked about the measure’s possible impact on programs funded by excise taxes, the Palace official responded, “Of course, mag-a-adjust din po.”</p><p>“At sabi naman po ng Pangulo, ito ay temporary, para lang po makaagapay tayo kung darating po talaga na sobrang mahihirapan ang ating mga kababayan sa pagtaas po ng presyo ng krudo,” Castro said. </p><p>Castro also explained why Marcos wanted to be given special power to temporarily tame fuel excise taxes despite the existence of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. </p><p>“Sa huli po nating pakikipag-usap, ang sabi po sa atin, kapag po nag-lift o nag-suspend po ng excise tax ay dapat po 2018 to 2020. So, sa ngayon po ay hindi po siya umiiral, kaya po ninanais ng Pangulo na magkaroon ng panibagong batas para po mabigyan siya ng authority na ma-reduce ang excise tax,” she said. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/3/3/energy-infrastructure-emerges-as-war-target-lifting-prices-0918">Energy infrastructure emerges as war target, lifting prices</a></div><p>Uncertainty about how long the war would go on and news that some oil fields in the region had been closed continued to put upward pressure on the commodity. </p><p>Main oil contracts rose around one percent Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate has soared 12 percent to more than $75 since last Friday, before the attacks began, while Brent is up more than 13 percent to sit above $82.</p><p>Iran&#x27;s Revolutionary Guards said it has &quot;complete control&quot; of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway through which one-fifth of global seaborne oil passes. </p><p>Meanwhile, the US military said it has hit nearly 2,000 targets since first launching deadly strikes with Israel on Iran on Saturday that killed Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.</p><p>Israel kept up the bombardment, with its military announcing a &quot;broad wave of strikes&quot; after midnight across Iran, which in the hours before had launched three waves of missile barrages at Israel.</p><div><strong>— With a report from Agence France-Presse </strong></div><div><iframe width="1022" height="575" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AcEQU9ypUg0" title="Ships told: Passage through Strait of Hormuz &#x27;forbidden&#x27; | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><iframe width="1023" height="575" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W0B9Odgeu4o" title="DOE warns of higher fuel prices amid Hormuz Strait closure | ANC" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>Malacañang on Wednesday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would certify as urgent a proposed measure granting him temporary authority to reduce excise taxes on petroleum products as oil prices due to the US-Israel war on Iran.</p>

Malacañang on Wednesday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would certify as urgent a proposed measure granting him temporary authority to reduce excise taxes on petroleum products as oil prices due to the US-Israel war on Iran.

Marcos to certify as urgent ‘special powers’ to cut fuel tax — Palace

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Marcos to certify as urgent ‘special powers’ to cut fuel tax — Palace

Harlene Delgado

Published March 04, 2026 02:56 PM PHT

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Palace

Claire Castro

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

excise tax

Middle East

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