DOE to institutionalize provincial monitoring

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) wants to institutionalize oil price monitoring in the provinces, an official said.

“All information officers of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) with the DOE will sit down on energy issues including pricing,” said Zenaida Monsada, director of the Oil Industry Management of the DOE.

The joint meeting will formalize the price monitoring with the PIA, Monsada said.

“It already started but it is still not very systematic, not yet institutionalized,” Monsada said.

Several provinces and regions are complaining of disparity in oil prices. But Monsada said the DOE is already seeking the help of LGUs for oil price monitoring.

Under the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998, oil firms can price their products based on market forces so as to encourage competition. The deregulation law also prohibits the government from intervening or influencing the pricing schemes of the oil companies.

However, the government, through the DOE, has monitoring powers. For monitoring purposes, the DOE has requested the firms to report to the department before the price adjustments.

Monsada said a specific budget is needed to institutionalize the oil price monitoring in the provinces.

“We always fight over the disparity,” Monsada said.

Monsada said oil prices in Manila and areas like Cebu are affected by a price war resulting in lower rates. But DOE has received complaints from neighboring provinces and regions on a few centavos of disparity.

Since the start of the year, oil prices have increased 10 times as against four price reductions that include the recent announcement of Eastern Petroleum.

As of March 27, net increase for gasoline and diesel stood at P6.55 per liter and P3.80 per liter, respectively, data from the DOE showed.