Senatorial candidate Herbert “Bistek” Bautista on Thursday reiterated his push for the government to buy back oil firm Petron, saying this would serve as a means to lower oil prices down when these tend to go out of control due to some factors.
According to Bautista, he has information that the Department of Energy (DOE), through energy chief Alfonso Cusi, and business tycoon Ramon Ang, who now owns Petron through his San Miguel conglomerate, had already initially discussed the possibility of the government buying back the oil company.
Bautista, who is running for a Senate seat under the UniTeam Alliance, insisted buying back Petron would allow the government to compete with private oil companies when prices are unstable.
“In the long term, I think we really need to get back Petron...They will all go to us, those refueling would go to government because it’s less expensive,” Bautista said in a statement.
Bautista made the call as lawmakers scramble to find solutions to temper fuel prices amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukrainne.
Buying back Petron, the former Quezon City mayor said, would be tantamount to “indirect subsidy” to the totla chain of fuel consumers and users.
“That means prices of other goods would not go up. Transport fare won’t go up because prices of gasoline are low. I think that’s one of the best ways,” said Bautista.
He also said that alongside efforts to buy back Petron, the government should also consider reviving the Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF), which was scrapped when the oil industry was deregulated.
“If worse comes to worst and the private sector can’t cope anymore with high gas and oil prices, the OPSF would have funds to give help directly,” said Bautista.