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WITH the
failure of oil deregulation to keep oil prices
reasonable and stable, militant legislators pushed on
Wednesday for the approval of a bill that will repeal
the oil deregulation law and reinstate regulation in the
oil industry.
At the same time, party-list Reps.
Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis, Satur Ocampo and Teodoro
Casino of Bayan Muna, and Liza Maza and Luz Ilagan of
Gabriela challenged the House leadership and its energy
committee to fast-track the passage of oil-reform
measures “that will give the Filipino people a tangible
defense against the monopolistic pricing mechanisms of
oil players in the Philippines.”
They also urge the people to keep a
tight watch on the House leadership and the energy
committee headed by Lakas Rep. Mikey Arroyo of Pampanga,
to ensure they exercise political will to pass House
Bill 1724, or “An Act Repealing RA 8479 of the
Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Law,” and House
Bills 3029, 3030 and 3031 authored by Bayan Muna and
Gabriela. These to reverse the privatization of Petron,
provide for a centralized procurement program for
petroleum products and establish a buffer fund,
respectively.
“It is high time for Congress to declare
that the oil deregulation law is a complete failure as
it has rendered the government helpless against oil
companies that are pushing more and more Filipinos into
abject poverty,” said the bill authors.
At the committee hearing on Wednesday,
legislators led by Arroyo ganged up on the
representatives of the Big Three oil companies for
“coming unprepared” in the hearing and thus unable—or as
some observers had said, unwilling—to answer questions
on their way of dealing with increases and decreases in
prices of petroleum products.
Casiño particularly scolded lawyer Rod
Libunao of Chevron and Maila Ong of Petron for failing
to give an explanation on the price mechanisms the firms
use, which was questioned by George San Mateo, secretary
general of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at
Operators Nationwide.
“Whenever there is a reduction in the
price of crude in the world market, the Big Three oil
industry players take such a long time to effect these
oil-price reductions in the local market, saying they
have acquired their stocks at a much higher price,” said
San Mateo at the hearing. “But whenever the price of
crude in the world market goes up, they immediately
increase their local prices. Why is this so?”
When Arroyo pressed Libunao and Ong to
answer, only Ong came forward and said she would try to
do so.
This only infuriated Arroyo, who said,
“If you are not sure of your answer, then it would be
better if you don’t answer at all! Not everyone here is
dumb.”
Casiño also rebuked the representatives
for apparently not taking seriously the committee
hearing. “You have been given advance copies of the bill
and the arguments against the deregulation bill but
still you come here as if you are unprepared, not ready
to answer our questions.”
“The question is simple: What price
mechanism are you maintaining which would validate your
immediate implementation of price increases as if it
were jet-propelled and why the delay in reducing oil
prices as if it were on a parachute?” asked Casiño.
The representatives remained silent.
Meanwhile, Mariano in his sponsorship
speech of the reregulation bill said deregulation left
consumers and the government defenseless from oil
companies’ arbitrary pricing to the point that even
President Arroyo was reduced to begging the oil
companies not to hike prices.
He said that “small players turned out to be
insignificant under a deregulated regime. So-called
small oil industry players fail to counter, or at the
minimum, influence prices, and just follow the lead of
the Big Three in increasing oil prices.”
The authors of the restore-regulation
bill said, “Government has a choice between keeping the
people at the mercy of oil companies and defending them
from more economic hardships with every oil-price hike.
Congress is in the position to enact laws that will give
the people immediate economic relief. The two measures
are tangible, immediate solutions that will mitigate the
impact of skyrocketing oil prices.” |
