MANILA, March 15 -- The government can use "a fraction" of the taxes it collects annually from crude oil and petroleum products to finance the clean-up of the Mindoro oil spill and indemnify impacted coastal residents, House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto said Wednesday.

The lawmaker from the 6th District of Batangas said the government collects PHP330 billion a year from crude oil and petroleum products, and a mere one day's worth of oil tax collection or PHP1 billion would be enough to jumpstart "abatement and alleviation" measures in areas hit by the ecological disaster.

"Ang katas ng buwis ng langis dapat gamitin panglinis ng tagas sa lumubog na barko (The gains from oil taxes should be used to clean up the oil leakage from the sunken s...