Resolution on complaint against oil firms out soon

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Energy will release its decision on the complaint filed by the provincial government against the Big Three fuel companies soon.

In an interview yesterday, DOE Senior Undersecretary Roy Kyamko said they are almost finished going through documents submitted by the complainants, as well as the answers of the respondent oil companies.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia along with the president of different business chambers in Cebu filed the case against Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Petron Corp., and Chevron Corp., for alleged violation of section 11 of Republic Act 8479 or the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act of 1998, which penalizes cartelization and predatory pricing of petroleum products.

The oil companies contended that the price of shipment of oil to Cebu is the reason why prices of oil is higher here, but the complainants questioned why the price of oil in Cebu is still higher than those in much further places like in Mindanao.

A joint task force on oil deregulation composed by DOE and the Department of Justice was formed to handle the complaint. The task force is being chaired by Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar.

Kyamko said it took some time for them to go through the whole process of studying the complaint and letting the respondents file their answers. In fact, one of the respondents reportedly asked for an extension to submit additional documents.

Kyamko said DOE’s role is to provide assistance to DOJ, especially information concerning fuel in the country.

Based on a survey conducted by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one of the complainants in the case, prices of diesel in Cebu is at P31.50 per liter or P5.75 higher than what is being sold in Manila, which is at P25.75 per liter. Prices of fuel have increased in recent months with P7 to P8 difference compared to other provinces in the country.

In a separate development, Kyamko was in Cebu yesterday to sign a Memorandum of Agreement with the Visayan Electric Company as a main distributor of Compact Fluorescent Lamps.

Kyamko said an initial exchange of 250,000 CFL’s for incandescent bulbs would help alleviate the problem of energy scarcity in Cebu.

As part of the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project, DOE aims to change 13 Million IB’s all over the country starting in Manila. He explained that the amount of energy saved could be channeled to more places, which would mean fewer power shortages.

And because CFL’s would help save electrical consumption, households can save more. One household using five IB’s would normally pay P270 but using five CFL’s would only total to P210.

Jaime Jose Aboitiz, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice-President of VECO, said they are very pleased to help in the project because protecting the environment is among VECO’s advocacies. – AJ A. de la Torre/JMO   (FREEMAN NEWS)