Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 16) — President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the Department of Finances recommendations to provide additional assistance for poor households and to keep excise tax on fuel products amid consecutive price hikes, the Palace said on Wednesday.

Acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar made the confirmation during his noontime virtual briefing.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III proposed these during Tuesdays televised Cabinet meeting that aired Wednesday morning.

This is our firm recommendation, Mr. President. One, to retain the fuel excise tax imposed under TRAIN Law because we already budgeted it for salaries of school teachers; Build, Build, Build program; and other expenses, said Dominguez.

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law slaps an excise tax of ₱10 per liter for gasoline, ₱6 for diesel, ₱5 for kerosene, and ₱3 per kilogram for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

With this, Dominguez said they propose distributing unconditional cash transfers of ₱200 to each of the countrys bottom 50% households per month, totaling to ₱2,400 for a year. With 12 million households or 70 million individuals covered, the cash aid would cost the government ₱33.1 billion, he added.

This is a little more than what authorities expect to collect from additional value-added tax (VAT) on fuel given higher prices, noted Dominguez.

Assuming Dubai crude oil costs $110 per barrel, about ₱26 billion could be added to VAT revenues from March to December due to more expensive fuel prices, according to the Finance chief.

We realize that this is not enough but this is what we can afford as of this time. To make sure that our finances going forward, and especially for the next administration, are still going to be healthy, this I believe is what we can afford, Dominguez said of the proposed aid.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua also recommended such assistance for poor households.

Nagawa na po natin under TRAIN Law, so may experience na po tayo, may listahan na po tayo. At sila ay tutulungan muli natin para hindi po sila mahirapan, Chua explained.

[Translation: We have already done this under TRAIN Law, so we already have experience, we already have the lists. We will help them again, so that they wont have a hard time.]

The TRAIN law mandated cash subsidies for qualified poor households and individuals: ₱2,400 for the entire year in 2018, ₱3,600 in 2019 and another ₱3,600 in 2020.

The proposal of the DOF and the National Economic and Development Authority comes after the economic team doubled fuel subsidy funds for public transport drives to ₱5 billion, which will be distributed in two tranches this March and April.

Oil firms increased prices for the eleventh time in a row this week, hiking per liter prices of diesel by ₱13.15, gasoline by ₱7.10 and kerosene by ₱10.50.