Senatorial candidate Herbert “Bistek” Bautista on Thursday said he supports the call for Congress to review the country’s oil price mechanism, noting how prices of fuel are being defined especially in the oil industry.
Bautista made the call amid threats of more price increases as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“I think it’s the right time to review how prices are being defined especially in the oil industry,” said Bautista, who is running for senator under the UniTeam Alliance of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.
“The root of all the problems is the pricing. I think Congress should also review the pricing mechanism,” said Bautista, a former Quezon City mayor.
“They have to see all the components because in so far as the department is concerned, the executive department, it is a deregulated regime and we cannot do anything. But since the problem is in the framework then we have to review the framework on the pricing,” he explained.
If he wins in the senatorial elections, Bautista said he would pursue a review of the Oil Deregulation Act which abolished the Oil Price Stabilization Fund as a mechanism to bring prices down when fuel supply is disrupted or causes price spikes.
Earlier, the senatorial bet said that while he supports the giving of fuel subsidies to public transport drivers and operators, these are short-term solutions to a problem that would need a long-term and lasting fix.
“Well, it’s right. The government is giving aid for the transport sector, to jeepney drivers and operators. But all these are just temporary solutions, aren’t they?” said Bautista.
“So what I see in the long term is an agreement for the government to buy back Petron gas stations nationwide,” he pointed out.
Petron used to be owned by the government in the past so that when oil prices spike worldwide, and the private sector like Shell, Phoenix, etc. also raise prices, he said the government or gas stations owned by the state can peg lower prices.
“It would serve as a subsidy for the transport sector, consumers and service deliveries. They will buy from us,” he said.
“I think that’s one of the long-term solutions that we, the national government, can do. And this would require an act of Congress which I would surely support if I become a senator,” he stressed.