Consumer group bucks auto fare adjustment plan

MANILA, Philippines - A consumer group opposing price increases and privatization on Wednesday opposed the Department of Energy (DoE) proposal to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for an automatic quarterly fare adjustment.

"The DOE proposal for an automatic quarterly fare adjustment will not resolve the issue of price increases but will only make it chronic and recurring unless the government will regulate oil prices like that of transportation fares," Strike The Hike spokesperson Mark Louie Aquino said.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said the proposal aims to implement automatic adjustments on transportation fare depending on the movement of oil prices.

Petilla admitted that the government can do nothing about oil price hikes because of its deregulated status.

The DOE made the suggestion on Tuesday following the oil price hikes by as much as P0.60 per liter of gasoline, P0.45 per liter of diesel and P0.40 per liter of kerosene.

Aquino said that oil firms already increased product costs by eight times for the first half of the year.

"With the current rising trend of oil prices in the local and international market, we fear that the automatic quarterly fare adjustment scheme will only result higher transportation fares in the long run," he added.

The group also called on the government to immediately scrap the Oil Deregulation Law and nationalize the oil industry.