MANILA, Philippines – Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto wants a monthly monitoring in oil prices instead of a weekly monitoring as what is being done now by the Department of Energy (DOE).
Recto said this could be part of the amendments of the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998.
Various sectors have proposed a review of the law to help address the problem of rising oil prices in the country and to help curb oil smuggling.
“We must find a way to smoothen out the volatility. A 30 to 60 day monitoring instead of weekly monitoring could help,” Recto said.
Recto also challenged oil companies to be transparent with the way they compute oil price adjustments.
He said that these adjustments usually do not tally with the computations of other parties such as the non-government IBON Foundation and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
The NEDA chief has called the attention of the Energy department and oil companies in the Philippines, saying that domestic pump prices in the country are overpriced.
Earlier, the Congressional Planning and Budget Department (CPBD), the think-tank of the House of Representatives, also urged the government to review the Oil Deregulation Law to help curb smuggling in the country
The CPBD said there should be a provision in the law that would effectively deter oil smuggling by imposing stiffer penalties such as cancellation of business permit, higher fines and increased number of years of imprisonment.
However, the CPBD thumbed down proposals to repeal the law, saying that this would mean slapping the public with more taxes.
In a letter addressed to members of the House, CPBD said that repealing the law would mean going back to price intervention in domestic oil markets.
“This would require reviving the oil price stabilization fund (OPSF) to be funded again by taxpayers that the government, given its fiscal record and outstanding debts, simply cannot afford,” the CPBD said.
The CPBD said that government’s subsidy to the OPSD has swelled to P8.3 billion in 1998 alone.