As oil prices, oil firms’ profits soar, groups seek to scrap Oil Deregulation Law

As oil prices, oil firms’ profits soar, groups seek to scrap Oil Deregulation Law

“Only our protests can force President Aquino to control oil prices.” – KMU
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Despite the peoples’ protests against the oil firms’ alleged persistent overpricing, and amid news of the oil firms’ bigger profits in the past year, oil companies have raised their prices anew this week. The latest hike followed a series of bigger increases imposed last month. Further increases also reportedly threaten to be implemented in the coming weeks, as the oil firms and the Department of Energy talk of various reasons why such increases would likely happen.

The result: just a month and a week into the new year, the oil firms have already raised the pump price of diesel by P1.30 per liter; unleaded gasoline by P3.10, and an 11-kg LPG tank by a staggering P115.50, based on the monitoring of multisectoral group Bayan (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan). The meager rollbacks the oil firms sometimes granted are always overran by the bigger and more frequent price increases, noted George San Mateo, chairman of transport group Piston (Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide).

The result, again, is worsening hunger among Filipinos as their wages and the availability of decent-paying jobs failed many times over to keep pace with the price hikes.

In all these oil price increases, the Aquino government, led by the Department of Energy, has always pointed to the Oil Deregulation Law or Republic Act (RA) 8479 as the reason why they cannot do anything but “monitor” prices. Yet, in the past, in the face of transport strikes and nationwide protests, the government (under Arroyo) was compelled to temporarily control oil prices, following a disaster which the oil companies had ignored when it raised its prices at the time. Under Aquino, he has promised, and failed so far, to scrutinize the books of oil companies. Aquino has also renewed the already discredited Pantawid-Pasada program, which gives token financial aid to public transport drivers..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/08/anniversary-of-oil-deregulation-law-to-be-marked-by-protests-calls-for-its-scrapping/