Senator Imee Marcos on Monday, Feb. 21 urged the government to find a longer-term solution to rising crude oil prices that would render fuel subsidies for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers, farmers, and fisherfolk inadequate.
“World events could push up fuel prices beyond what we have seen in the past seven weeks. How long will fuel subsidies last?” Marcos, chairwoman of the Senate economic affairs committee, asked.
From mid-November, the three-month average price of Dubai crude has reached $79.83 per barrel, just 17 cents short of the $80 level that will trigger the release of fuel subsidies to PUV and delivery drivers under the Pantawid Pasada Program (PPP) in the 2022 national budget.
Farmers and fisherfolk are also entitled to P500 million in fuel subsidies from the Department of Agriculture (DA)
“Business activity is projected to return to pre-pandemic levels later this year, but global oil supply may not be able to meet higher fuel demand,” Marcos said.
“Oil-exporting countries want to recoup the losses they incurred during the pandemic before increasing their oil output at a faster rate,” the lady lawmaker explained.
“Add to that the threat of a war between Russia and Ukraine. Any Western sanctions on Russia’s oil exports will reduce world supply and push up the price of oil from the Middle East, which is our main source of oil imports ,” she added.
Marcos said she is ready to give legislative support for the government’s long-term plan to increase the country’s oil reserves but expressed displeasure at the slow pace of bidding out a study to set up the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“We already missed the opportunity in 2020 to buy oil at low prices when pandemic restrictions tightened and slowed down fuel demand. This emphasizes the need for forward planning and swift action,” she pointed out.