National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said that the government should avoid giving subsidies to oil and power sectors as it would only benefit the rich.

Balisacan told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Economic Briefing that subsidies should be aimed at vulnerable sectors, which is determined by the digitalization program and national ID registration.

“I think our approach is not to subsidize oil generally, but we can subsidize the power needs of vulnerable sectors, like, for example, your public transports. used by ordinary citizens,” he said.

“But I think we should avoid subsidizing power, electricity, fuels generally, because the biggest consumers of fuels, for example, are the rich. The biggest consumers of electricity are the rich,” he added.

Balisacan cited the Oil Prize Stabilization Fund which “became so unsustainable and caused a lot of fiscal problems.”

Oil companies contributed to the fund when the crude prices in the world market were low, and drew from it when crude prices were high, leading to a budget deficit.

This remark came after San Miguel Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang, in a panel, said that fuel and power prices in the Philippines remain high compared to its neighboring countries because they provide subsidies to these sectors.

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Ang said that Malaysia can subsidize oil prices because it has its “own oil production” which produces an average of 1 million barrels a day.

“If you look at it on an equal basis, our prices without the subsidy and without taxes are even lower than Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. It’s also the same as power,” he said in the same forum.

“Our power generation compared to our neighboring countries is lower, but we impose taxes on the power sector, on fuel and we also don’t give subsidies on power. That’s why our power prices are higher,” he added.