Group: Inter-agency body vs looming oil crisis will be ‘useless’

Instead of setting up an inter-agency committee to address a possible oil crisis due to political turmoil in some countries in the Middle East and in Libya in Northern Africa is "useless" and that the government should instead take contingency measures to stop fuel price hikes, a militant transport group said Saturday. “It is a useless body. It is just a publicity gimmick by the government to divert public attention to the issue of oil supply. The government should be focusing on contingency measures," said George San Mateo, secretary general of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (PISTON). In an interview on dzBB radio on Saturday, San Mateo also said the inter-agency body aims to justify increases in the prices of fuel as it will likely focus on the supply. But he said their is no problem with the supply "because we are not getting it from Libya," but from Middle East countries that are not part of the pockets of political crisis there. In the meantime, he said his group and its supporters are preparing nationally coordinated protest actions against the continued rise in fuel prices. He said the protest actions may include protest caravans that he said may take place within March. For his part, Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug Jr. said they anticipate fuel prices to start going down once the tension in the affected countries in the Middle East eases. “Ina-anticipate namin na pagkatapos ng sigalot doon, bababa uli ang presyo ng langis (We anticipate fuel prices to start going down once the crisis is over)," he said in a separate interview on dzBB on Saturday. Last Thursday, President Benigno Aquino III signed an administrative order (AO) creating an inter-agency energy contingency committee to address a possible "oil supply crisis" amid the unrest in Libya in North Africa and in some the Middle East countries. The inter-agency committee will be composed of the departments of Energy, Finance, Budget and Management, Justice, Trade and Industry, Agriculture, National Defense, Interior and Local Government, Transportation and Communications, Foreign Affairs, the National Economic and Development Authority, and the National Security Council. In AO 6, released on Friday, Aquino said that although there is no imminent danger of any oil supply disruption, the government deems it prudent to prepare a precautionary measure. The inter-agency committee is tasked to undertake a comprehensive audit of the available resources of their respective agencies; to validate the viability of the enhancements made to the existing plan; to assess the need to operationally the proposed plan; and to submit reports to the Office of the President on its recommendations. — LBG, GMA News