Manila (29 July) -- Malacanang said that no opinion poll survey can make President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo forego the revenues earned from the expanded value added tax (EVAT) on imported fossil fuels.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Golez said that the revenues raised through the EVAT are the primary source of government funds for financing social welfare programs for the poorest of the poor.

"Ang importante ang EVAT ay ginagamit para sa mga mahihirap. Ito ang nagtutustos ng lahat ng mga programa para sa kanila," Golez said in a radio interview this morning.

He said that every centavo earned from the EVAT is spent by the national government on programs designed to uplift the lives and welfare of the poor Filipinos through rice subsidy, scholarship grants, among others.

Golez was reacting to the survey of Ibon Foundation that 90 percent of the Filipinos want to abolish EVAT supposedly in order to bring down the price of imported crude oil.

Earlier, this morning, the President motored to the Quinta Market in Quiapo as part of her monitoring of the prices of prime commodities, particularly rice, in the country.