The Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) is sitting on its plan to introduce to clients an automatic fuel rate adjustment (AFRA) scheme.
CTAP president Ruperto Bayocot told PortCalls that for now association members levy fuel surcharges on a per-client basis since oil prices have yet to impact expenses significantly.
“Diesel prices are very volatile so implementing an AFRA is not the practical thing to do right now,” Bayocot said.
“We can still carry the additional cost related to fuel but once it reaches a very alarming level, we will definitely impose not only an AFRA but another round of freight rate increase.”
Over the weekend, oil firms led by Pilipinas Shell increased anew their pump prices by about P0.70 per liter for gasoline and P0.25 per liter for diesel and kerosene.
Surging fuel prices have prompted Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to file Senate Bill 2959 which seeks to impose a 50% windfall tax on oil companies with profits exceeding 12% to 20% of paid-up capital per year and an 80% tax of profits in excess of 20% of paid-up capital per year.
According to the senator, the bill is being filed not as a revenue generation measure but as an exercise of the state’s police power aimed at providing the public with relief from the endless rounds of oil price increases.
Photo by Jon Kristian Fjellestad
