MANILA, Philippines - Militant transport group Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston) yesterday slammed oil companies for not reducing the prices of unleaded gasoline.
Oil giants Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell and small player Seaoil Philippines rolled back prices of diesel by 50 centavos per liter effective yesterday.
George San Mateo, Piston national president, said there was no reason for Shell and Petron not to roll back the price for unleaded gasoline since they import raw crude materials from the Middle East.
“They (Shell and Petron) both import raw crude materials from the Middle East that are refined here in the country into diesel and gasoline and others such as LPG,” San Mateo said.
“They have the same refining costs for diesel and gasoline. So if there’s a rollback in diesel, then there should also be a rollback in gasoline,” he pointed out.
San Mateo bewailed the “dagdag-bawas” scheme used by oil companies in the pricing of diesel and gasoline because of the Oil Deregulation Law.
“This is an obvious connivance between the government and the oil companies which caused suffering to private motorists, the riding public and consumers,” he added.