Lady legislators blame 'oil cartel' over new fuel price hikes

MANILA, Philippines - Two lady lawmakers on Tuesday denounced the recent hike in fuel prices, blaming the cost adjustment on an "oil cartel that continuously adds burden to the already bruised and battered Filipino people." Rep. Luzviminda C. Ilagan (Party-list, Gabriela) said that fuel price movement’s domino effect on the prices of basic food items has caused added burden on Filipinos and has posed more hardship on women, who as homemakers, traditionally take on the budgeting of diminishing household incomes. “It is a given fact that Shell, Chevron, and Petron dictate and control the prices of oil products in the country. Obviously, there is an oil cartel manipulating prices and this is suspicion of all the affected sectors of society," Ilagan said. Local oil firms led by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philippines and Seaoil Philippines, Inc. jacked up over the weekend pump prices of gasoline by 75 centavos a liter and 50 centavos for diesel. After few days, Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and other oil firms imposed a P1-per-liter increase in the prices of gasoline and kerosene and P1.50 for diesel. Shell justified the recent local oil price increases as consistent with the hike in prices in the international market. Ilagan said that the almost-synchronized price increases, the coincidental markup rates that show slight variations among oil players, and the imposition of adjustments that were not based on prevailing international market prices are indicators that an oil cartel is in place. “The government remains deaf to the clamor of the people to repeal the Oil Deregulation Law and nationalize the oil industry. It has rejected the demand to scrap the 12-percent value-added tax on oil. The administration even defends the profits of the big oil companies at the expense of the general public," Ilagan said. Meanwhile Rep. Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros (Party-list, Akbayan) said the public was surprised by the recent oil price hike because it was clearly motivated by profit as the oil and oil derivatives the “Big 3" (Petron, Chevron and Shell) are selling had been bought when global oil prices were still low. “The so-called ‘big 3’ acts like, talks like, and walks like a cartel, and thus the DOE (Department of Energy) must motu proprio investigate this recent oil price increase," Hontiveros said. Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes in a statement said he would ask the oil companies to explain these recent increases in pump prices. Malacañang also ordered that the books of accounts of three oil companies be scrutinized if they could not explain and justify their price increases. - D’Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV