PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte gave his approval to recommendations made by the government’s economic team regarding the excise tax and P200 subsidy for the poor.
Malacanang clarified that the president already approved some of the recommendations by his economic team in order to mitigate the effects and impact of the continued increase in prices of petroleum products.
Acting Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Martin Andanar, among those approved by the president were the excise tax will remain, and the provision of a P200-subsidy per month per poor Filipino family.
However, Andanar said that for now, they will await for the release of the guidelines to be crafted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which will be the lead implementing agencies in the distribution of the financial assistance.
As for the other recommendations of the economic cluster such as the four-day work week scheme, the extension of the work-from-home set up and wage subsidy for workers, Andanar said these are still under evaluation and under consideration.
He advised to just wait for the results of the evaluation in the coming days and if there will be another announcement in the next “Talk to the People” by President Duterte.