Overview
- Decree 1390 grants the executive power to issue decree-laws on tax and budget matters to cover a shortfall the government had sought to fill with a 16.3 trillion peso reform for 2026.
- The decree cites urgent obligations including health insurer payments (UPC), energy subsidies, security spending such as anti-drone infrastructure, judicial debts, contractual commitments, and reparations to victims.
- Business groups and former finance chiefs condemned the move as an overreach to bypass Congress, with ANDI president Bruce Mac Master calling it a flagrant abuse of law.
- Specific levies have not been announced, though media-reported drafts referenced a wealth tax, a higher 4×1,000 on financial transactions, and new VAT or excise on alcohol and cigarettes.
- The Constitutional Court signaled it will examine the decree after January 13 and Congress retains oversight, and this is Petro’s fourth emergency declaration in his term.