RP House speaker warns oil firms

RP House speaker warns oil firms

MANILA (AFP): House Speaker Manuel Villar warned oil companies
here Wednesday he would work to repeal the oil deregulation law,
possibly reimposing fuel price controls, if the oil companies
raised retail prices.

"Do everything you possibly can to prevent another oil price
hike. If this (increase) goes on, we may be forced to review the
oil deregulation law," Villar said at a congressional hearing.

Echoing Villar's sentiments, Marcial Punzalan, head of a
committee looking into the alleged cartelization of the local oil
industry, said he would "take a fearless step to pursue measures
to bust the oil cartel ..."

He said action was needed "to stop the continuous reaping of
the economic benefits of the selfish few at the expense of the
suffering majority."

Philippine Energy Secretary Mario Tiaoqui appealed to oil
companies to refrain from raising their pump prices after crude
oil prices surged to nine-year highs.

Earlier this week, representatives of the country's three oil
refiners told a congressional hearing they would have to raise
pump prices soon, adding they were already losing money since
local prices had not caught up to international levels.

Legislators have accused the country's oil refiners of working
as a cartel and some have suggested reimposing price controls
that were abolished when the industry was deregulated last year.

Tiaoqui said in a statement issued Wednesday that "price
movements in the world market are still too volatile. It is best
therefore to wait until crude oil prices stabilize" before
deciding whether to raise oil prices.

He conceded that international oil prices reached their
highest level since the 1991 Gulf war but since then crude prices
have "been on a down trend."

A meeting of oil producers in March could result in a decision
to raise production and bring down oil prices, he added.

In a separate development, President Joseph Estrada thanked
the oil companies for not raising their prices yet, saying that
talking with the oil companies was his only way of putting off
increases.

In a radio interview, Estrada said that since oil prices were
already deregulated the oil companies could freely raise their
prices.

But "we were able to hold off the increase in oil prices here
even for a little while by talking to them."

"I am thanking the oil companies that they did not increase
immediately or raised it only slightly" earlier this month,
Estrada said, adding that neighboring countries had raised their
prices more than the Philippines.

In the past, hikes in oil prices have been followed by street
protests including grenade attacks by communist guerrillas on the
headquarters of oil companies.

Estrada has also said oil price increases were partly to blame
for the dramatic fall in his popularity.