DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte can't help but express his disappointment over Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Raphael Lotilla's supposed junking of a two-year-old proposal for government to put up a strategic petroleum reserve (SPR). 

This, as Villafuerte noted that world oil prices could spike if the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict turns into a drawn out war. 

“I don’t know which is worse: that the DOE, on the watch of then-Energy Secretary Al [Alfonso] sat on this SPR plan, or that the DOE, under Secretary Popo [Lotilla], suddenly dismisses it in cavalier fashion, especially at this time when rocketing global oil rates have caused price spirals in transport fares and food prices, which, in turn, have prolonged the elevated inflation that now undermines our country’s post-pandemic economic rebound,” Villafuerte said in a statement Tuesday, Oct. 10. 

Villafuerte said that contrary to Lotilla’s view, an SPR could directly affect retail prices because with reserve stocks purchased at a time when global rates are relatively lower, the government can sell its fuel cheaper than the prevailing market rates when global prices are high. 

He said that although it is really expensive to put up and maintain an SPR facility, “Secretary Popo seems to be forgetting that the switch from fossil fuel to green energy and the promotion of EVs (electric vehicles) are also equally expensive government proposals.” 

“The DOE could pursue both plans side-by-side so that the government could invest in the SPR  to somehow shield our consumers from oil price volatilities, and at the same time invest in EVs and RE (renewable energy) while promoting the domestic use of green cars," noted the solon, majority leader of the Commission on Appointments (CA). 

Otherwise, he asked, “What option does the DOE have to cushion on our people, especially those who experience daily a steady erosion in their purchasing power, the impact of non-stop fuel rates, which has already induced higher transport fares and food prices?” 

Villafuerte noted that the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict could be a prolonged one since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of turning their enemy’s hideouts “to rubble” in “a long and difficult" war. 

Hamas launched rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza Strip last Saturday.