'Amendment of Oil Deregulation Law can prevent weekly price hikes'

MANILA, Philippines - Only an amendment to the Oil Deregulation Law can prevent the country’s three oil giants from raising pump prices on a weekly basis, a Manila Regional Trial Court judge said yesterday.

Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. of the Manila RTC Branch 26 was defending his decision to junk a petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the weekly price increase of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philip-pines and Petron Corp.

“At present even the DOE (Depart-ment of Energy) has no right to regulate the prices of oil products because it (oil industry) is deregulated right now,” Pampilo told reporters.

But Pampilo said the oil companies may be sued if they violate provisions of the Republic Act on Anti-Trust Safeguards.

He said the oil deregulation law requires public announcements of price hikes before they take effect.

Civil society group Social Justice Society (SJS), through legal counsel Vladimir Cabigao, said they would ask the Court of Appeals to order a review of Pampilo’s rejection of their petition for a TRO.

Earlier, Pampilo declared the “denial of the petitioner’s motion is not inconsistent with its previous order granting the petitioner’s Motion for Opening and Examination of the Books of Accounts of the Respondents.”

When asked if the Big 3 oil companies may raise their prices in the meantime, Cabigao said they may since the SJS is still preparing to appeal the court’s decision on its TRO petition.     — Sandy Araneta