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Arroyo flayed for inaction on profit-conscious ‘Big 3’

By Pat C. Santos

10/25/2009

Militant transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) yesterday urged the Arroyo government to impose price control mechanisms on oil prices following the recent round of oil price hike instead of bullying small producers and retailers in a vain effort to bring relief to Filipinos.

In a noise barrage in Quezon City yesterday, Piston denounced the government’s inaction on the blatant profiteering of “Big 3” oil companies as Filipinos still reel from the damage caused by typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng,” saying “the government whip must hit them during calamities.”

“Controlling oil prices in the aftermath of two typhoons is the surest way of delivering relief to poor Filipino drivers and consumers since it will effectively bring down prices of basic commodities. But what the Arroyo government has done is merely spew rhetoric of compassion which can never really bring oil prices down,” George San Mateo, secretary general of Piston, said.

“At a time when thousands of Filipinos are still homeless and jobless, the recent round of oil price hikes can be just as lethal as the typhoons that ravaged Luzon. Big Three’s greed is too devastating to prompt hardline government action on this,” San Mateo added.

While many Filipinos are struggling to recover from the damage caused by the typhoons, the Big 3 increased their pump prices last October 20 by as much as P2 per liter of diesel, making it in the record books as the highest increase in the price of diesel this year at P2.25 in this month alone.

San Mateo called Efren de Luna, president of Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations (Acto), “a stooge of the Big 3 and Malacañang” for proposing a new fare hike instead of condemning the greediness of the oil cartel and the Arroyo government’s refusal to control oil prices.

“A new fare increase is not the answer at the moment to drivers’ woes amid spiralling oil prices. What drivers urgently need is the government’s imposition of oil price control and oil price ceiling instead of a new fare hike which will only add to the burden of our impoverished people who have been victimized by the recent typhoons,” he said.

San Mateo also criticized Arroyo’s allies in Congress for merely issuing statements to the media instead of pursuing measures that will end the profiteering schemes of oil companies.

“The Big Three’s gross insensitivity has long been proven with its consistent denial of overpricing. They do not need Speaker Prospero Nograles and Rep. Mikey Arroyo’s tirades which were actually dished out for pogi points. They should taste a strict price control instead which is actually at the disposal of these key government officials and of Gloria Arroyo most especially,” San Mateo said.

“Government officials, however, have continuously said that price ceilings are contrary to law. But why not repeal the Oil Deregulation Law, especially when we have seen how it was abused even in times of calamity? The people have long voiced out their demand for this unjust law to be scrapped, yet the Arroyo government has always tied its hands and kept its mouth shut on our call,” San Mateo added.

According to a paper by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or Bayan, Shell, Caltex and Petron earn P140 million everyday from overpricing alone under a deregulated environment.

Petron Corp. accounted for P64.64 million of the daily profit; Pilipinas Shell, P49.94 million, and Chevron Philippines, P23.55 million.

“They earn this even as many Filipinos have nothing to begin with to rebuild their lives in the wake of typhoons,” San Mateo said.

He added Piston and other groups calling for the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law are poised to launch bigger protests in the coming days if the government and the Big Three continue to prioritize profiteering over the relief of Filipinos.