ROXAS SETS OIL PRICE MEETING NEXT WEEK
TUESDAY MEETING DEALS WITH WAYS TO KEEP PRICES STABLE

TUESDAY MEETING DEALS WITH WAYS TO KEEP PRICES STABLE

The Senate committee on trade and commerce, chaired by Senator Mar Roxas, will meet on Tuesday, November 20, with Cabinet members and oil industry players to determine how the government seeks to deal with record-high oil prices.

"With prices of world oil higher than ever, our people deserve to see a well-thought out contingency plan that would mitigate the impact of further increases on the wallets or paychecks of every citizen," Roxas said.

"Our meeting on Tuesday serves to find out, first, what the projections are; second, the kind of safety nets that government in partnership with the private sector could offer to help the consumer deal with price increases; and lastly, whether such an integrated approach is already in the offing or are we now just in the process of policy formulation and consultations," he added.

Roxas filed last October 31 Senate Resolution No. 180, for the Senate trade committee to conduct an inquiry on the government's contingency plan. This, after pump prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, as well as per-tank prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) were hiked by oil companies, following the hike of world oil prices to record-high levels.

Among those invited are Energy Sec. Angelo Reyes, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran, Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales, the heads of consumer and transport groups, and the heads of oil companies Petron Corp., Caltex Philippines Inc. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.

The price of oil reached a record-high of $98/barrel early this month and eased somewhat to about $94, but its volatility remains a concern locally.

"With a weakening dollar and our peso at a seven-year high, we should be shielded somewhat from price hikes. However, Filipinos remain anxious and worried about when the next 50-centavo-per-liter increase will occur, which could be this week, next week, or the week after," Roxas said, adding that poor families are in dire need of safety nets to see them through such economic difficulties.

As of today, pump prices of petroleum products have increased to P43.45 per liter (L) for gasoline, P37.45/L for diesel, P38.99/L for kerosene and P28.45/L for LPG (P560 per 11-kilogram tank). The net price increase this year is P6.20 per liter of gasoline; P4.20 per liter of diesel; P4.20 per liter of kerosene and P4.38 per liter of LPG. There have been a total of 15 price hikes this year for gasoline, 12 for diesel and kerosene, and 15 for LPG. On the other hand, there have been a total of only five rollbacks this year for gasoline, six for kerosene, five for diesel and six for LPG.

"Mas malinaw pa sa sikat ng araw ang patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin. Ang nais namin sa Senado ay maging malinaw din ang plano ng pamahalaan para makatulong sa mga mamimili, lalo na sa mahihirap, kung sakaling tumaas pa muli ang presyo ng langis sa pandaigdigang merkado," Roxas said.