Senator Erwin Tulfo on Sunday, March 22 called on oil companies to be upfront on their actual prices of petroleum products instead of unilaterally declaring price hikes based on external events.

Tulfo made the appeal as he called for absolute transparency among oil firms as the country continues to bear the impact of the Middle East conflict.

“We must put an end to this seemingly taking advantage of external events to pass the burden to the consumers,” Tulfo said, citing the need to protect the public from arbitrary price hikes.

As such, Tulfo pushed for the passage of Senate Bill No. 641, a measure that seeks to impose strict transparency within the Philippine Downstream Oil Industry.

Under the bill, the Department of Energy (DOE) will have the authority to mandate oil companies to submit the actual cost components of their fuel prices.

This requirement would implemented when the average price of Dubai crude oil hits a specific threshold per barrel, based on the Mean of Platts Singapore.

"Many of our kababayans (citizens) have reach out to me asking why there are premature hikes, and there’s even this fishy scheme where some gas stations declare that they’re out of supply—as if waiting for the mega price hike before opening their doors again to consumers. This has to stop,” he added.

The DOE had earlier assured it had already issued notices to explain to gas stations reportedly abusing current Middle East tensions to jack up prices.

However, the agency admitted that its actions remain limited under the existing Oil Deregulation Law.

Tulfo said a permanent solution is needed to address these gaps.

“We want to institutionalize an automatic trigger where oil companies will be mandated to provide a list of their actual costs," he said.

"This is to ensure that Filipinos are well-informed on why they’re paying a certain amount for gas,” he pointed out.