Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Tuesday, April 21 expressed support to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) move to mandate fuel price adjustments, calling it a far better move than leaving the price modifications to the oil firms.

Lacson pointed this out saying such intervention would be good, provided that the price adjustments remain reasonable.

“Dapat lang gamitin ng pamahalaan ang pagdeklara ng state of national energy emergency (The government must use the powers granted to it under a state of national energy emergency),” Lacson said in a statement.

“As long as reasonable ang gagawing computation ng DOE sa pag-adjust ng presyo - pagbaba man or pagtaas ng presyo ng pump prices, mas makakabuti sa mas nakakaraming Pilipino ang ganitong patakaran o polisiya kesa naman ipaubaya sa oil companies ang pagtatalaga ng presyo (As long as the DOE’s computations are reasonable - whether the adjustments are upward or downward - this is better than just allowing oil firms to dictate prices of fuel),” he said.

For this week, the DOE set a minimum rollback of P24.94 per liter for diesel, P3.41 for gasoline, and P2.00 for kerosene.

Earlier, DOE Secretary Sharon Garin said that companies are free to offer bigger discounts, but any adjustment less than the prescribed amount will trigger legal action.

DOE Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad had also warned that violators would be charged under Section 24 of the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998 or Republic Act No. 8479.

Penalties, under the law, include a three months to one year imprisonment and a fine ranging from P50,000 to P300,000.

The DOE also warned it may revisit or revoke the business permits of any firm that resists the prescribed price ceiling.

Lacson also pointed out that the law allows the DOE to take over temporarily or direct the operation of any person or entity in the oil industry.

“Kung tutuusin, binibigyan pa nga ng karapatan ang estado sa ilalim ng (In fact, the state is given authority under the) RA 8479 or Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act (Under RA 8479 or the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act), to quote - ‘when public interest so requires, the DOE may, during the period of the emergency and under reasonable terms prescribed by it, temporarily take over or direct the operation of any person or entity engaged in the industry,’” he noted.

A timely relief

For his part, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the government’s intervention in fuel pricing, through Executive Order No. 110, which declared the Philippines under a “National State of Energy Emergency” is a “timely relief given the rate of increases in fuel prices” that the country has seen since March.

“I have long advocated for the unbundling of fuel prices to ensure that any increase is neither arbitrary nor without basis, especially to the detriment of ordinary Filipino households as well as micro and small businesses,” Gatchalian said.

As the country is fully dependent on imports to meet local requirements for fuel, the senator stressed that “the public deserves to know the math.”

“The DOE must clearly explain how oil companies compute price increases. Also, the government should continue to exercise its emergency powers to regulate in the interest of consumers,” the senator said.

“Patuloy nating tututukan ang presyo ng mga produktong petrolyo bilang bahagi ng oversight function ng Senado para masigurong makatarungan ang anumang pagtaas ng presyo (We will continue to monitor the prices of petroleum products as part of the Senate's oversight function to ensure that any price increases are fair),” he said.

Why only now?

Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos questioned the timing of the government’s intervention in oil fuel pricing, when in fact, nothing has changed in the power of the government and the DOE under its mandate or Republic Act No. 7638 or the DOE law.

“Wala namang nagbago sa kapangyarihan ng gobyerno at ng DOE sa ilalim ng mandato nito sa RA 7638 o DOE Law. Nakakalungkot lang na kung kelan pababa na ang presyo eh tsaka magsasabi ang DOE na may kapangyarihan silang maglimita ng pagtaas ng presyo at magpatupad ng minimum na rollback (Nothing has changed in the power of the government and the DOE under its mandate in RA 7638 or DOE Law. It is just sad that when the price is going down, the DOE will say that they have the power to limit the price increase and implement a minimum rollback. I guess they have only now learned their power under the law),” Marcos noted.

“Ngayon lang ata nila naaral ang kapangyarihan nila sa ilalim ng batas (I guess they have only now learned their power under the law),” she pointed out.

Marcos questioned the timing of the fuel adjustments noting that it came at a time when many public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers have opted to stop working since the amount of take home has plummeted since the start of the Middle East conflict between Iran, United states and Israel.

“Kung kelan marami ng tumigil pumasadang mga PUV driver, marami ng magsasakang hindi nakapag-ani at marami ng mangingisdang hindi nakapalaot at nawalan ng international orders eh tsaka pa lang nila naisip ito (They only thought of this when many PUV drivers have stopped working, when many farmers were unable to harvest and many fishermen were unable to go out and lost international orders),” she pointed out.

“Dapat pagkadeklara pa lang ng National Emergy Emergency ay gumalaw na sila para kontrolin ang presyo (They should have moved to control the price after the National Emergency was declared),” she insisted.