House urged to act as watchdog vs oil price hikes

The House of Representatives should act as a watchdog to shield the public from supposedly “relentless" oil price hikes imposed by local oil companies, a congressman proposed Tuesday. Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone urged the House leadership to immediately form a special oil price tracking group under the Congressional Budget Policy Office to determine if oil price hikes are in line with global market prices. “I am proposing a step by which Congress, specifically the House of Representatives, can protect the public from possible predatory pricing, or mispricing of pump prices by the oil companies for immense gains," he said in a letter sent to House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.’s office on Tuesday. The body, which will be under the House secretariat, will have the power to recommend amendments to the Oil Deregulation Law and even file criminal cases against oil companies, he said. Evardone also criticized the Department of Energy (DOE) for simply “trumpeting" oil price hike announcements from oil companies. “The DOE is not doing its job in trying to protect the interest of the Filipino consumers… Congress should now step in by acting as a watchdog," he said at a press briefing. Local oil companies raised fuel prices twice last week, citing movements in prices of oil in the global market. Despite rising fuel costs, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said on Friday that the government could not interfere with the oil companies’ decision to hike their pump prices due to the deregulated nature of the country’s oil industry. Fuel subsidy ‘not enough’ Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano, meanwhile, said additional fuel subsidy for jeepney and tricycle drivers under the government’s Pantawid Pasada program will not be enough to cushion the impact of rising oil prices. “Hindi pampalubag loob ang hinihiling ng taumbayan kundi seryosong aksyon para pigilan ang pagtaas ng presyo ng langis," he said in a statement. He added that a P9 per liter rollback on fuel prices is needed to enable Filipinos to recover from the oil price hikes. Mariano said that the government must exercise price control over local oil companies to avoid “predatory pricing" on fuel products. Last May, in a nationwide financial assistance program implemented amid rising oil prices, jeepney drivers received Pantawid Pasada cards loaded with P1,050 each. Tricycle operators, meanwhile, got a P150 subsidy from government. Malacañang said last week that it is currently studying the possibility of resuming the Pantawid Pasada program to aid jeepney and tricycle drivers in the face of rising oil prices. Last Friday, President Benigno Aquino III also called for a dialogue with transport groups to hear their sentiments on oil price hikes. — KBK, GMA News