Marcos suspends 'pass-through' fees for vehicles transporting goods

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has directed local government units (LGUs) to suspend the collection of the “pass-through fees” in order to ensure the efficient movement of goods across the country.

Signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Executive Order No. 41 states that all LGUs are prohibited from collecting toll fees and charges to all motor vehicles transporting goods or merchandise while passing through any national roads as well as other roads not constructed and funded by them.

“In the interest of public welfare, all LGUs are further strongly urged to suspend or discontinue the collection of fees such as, but not limited to, sticker fees, discharging fees, delivery fees, market fees, toll fees, entry fees, or Mayor’s Permit fees, that are imposed upon all motor vehicles transporting goods and passing through any local public roads constructed and funded by said LGUs,” the EO, signed September 25, stated.

The EO indicated that the unauthorized imposition of pass-through fees has a significant effect on transportation and logistics costs, which are often passed on to consumers as they bear the burden of paying for the increase in prices of commodities.

“In order to uphold the welfare and advance the best interest of the Filipino people, it is the overarching policy of the Administration to consolidate all essential components within the value and supply chain, and reduce the costs of food logistics, which play a pivotal role in effectively tempering the inflation rate in the country,” the EO said.

The EO also said reducing transport and logistics costs is one of the pillars of the Eight-Point Socioeconomic Agenda of the Marcos administration.

Administrative and disciplinary sanctions could be imposed against public officials or employees who will not comply with the EO.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is tasked to secure copies of existing ordinances of all LGUs on the collection of pass-through fees imposed on motor vehicles, including those issued pursuant to Section 153 and 155 of Republic Act No. 7160, within 30 days from the effectivity of the EO.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), and the Department of Finance (DOF), meanwhile, will evaluate the ordinances secured by the DILG to ensure its compliance with RA 7160.

The EO will take effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation. 

Eight-point agenda

Marcos' economic team unveiled in July last year the eight-point agenda aimed at achieving the administration’s goals of bringing down the poverty rate to a single-digit and elevating the country’s status as an upper-middle income economy. These are:

• Protect purchasing power and mitigate socioeconomic scarring by ensuring food security, reducing transport and logistics costs, and reduce energy costs to families;
• Reduce vulnerability and mitigate scarring from the COVID-19 pandemic by tackling health, strengthening social protections, and addressing learning losses;
• Ensure sound macroeconomic fundamentals by enhancing bureaucratic efficiency and sound fiscal management and ensuring a resilient and innovative financial sector;
• Create more jobs by promoting trade and investments, improving infrastructure, and achieving energy security;
• Create quality jobs by increasing employability, encouraging research and development and innovation, enhancing digital economy;
• Create green jobs by pursuing green economy and establishing livable and sustainable communities;
• Uphold public order and safety, peace, and security; and
• Ensure a level playing field by strengthening market competition and reducing barriers to entry and limits to entrepreneurship.

"These interventions will enable us to cut poverty incidence to 9% by 2028 and elevate the country to upper-middle income status. We will do all of these while exercising fiscal discipline," Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno had said. —KBK, GMA Integrated News