An instance of profile in courage

Why, indeed, is that whale of difference between the retail prices of oil products in Manila and Mindanao as compared to the Cebu pump prices? For that matter, the price scales now and then shown on tv of meat and varied fishes, and of fruits and vegetables in Manila, are much cheaper than the prices in Cebu at given periods.

Isn’t it a business theorem as hinted by laissez faire exponents, that things or products and services in capital regions, say, Metro Manila, ought to be more pricey than in the “promdis”?

The almost incredible price phenomenon has been going on for so long. On fuel products, the lower Manila pricing often appears in media ads of the NGO oil price watch headed by Raul Concepcion. Wet items of meat/fish and the fruits/vegetables are also featured on TV which the wife grumbles on the variance in Cebu and in Manila.

It’s no wonder that Gov. Gwen Garcia has taken the cudgels for Cebu by calling to a conference bigwigs of Petron, Shell, and Chevron to thresh out the issue. However, as one expected, the 3 reps just did the ring-around-the-posy, virtually shifting to the excuse that Cebu has many small petroleum indie-players dictating the pump prices which they – Petron/Shell/Chevron – merely adopted as field competitors. What blatancy and double fiddlesticks!

Another, is the idiocy of Shell VP Roberto Kanapi blaming the Manila-Cebu-Mindanao pump price disparity as dictated by world market forces, since local supply is about 95% imported. Such argument does not fly to justify the wide disparity. What particular market forces or variables could have caused the imported crude oil price difference in Manila and Mindanao destinations as much cheaper than that in Cebu? The transport factor isn’t the goat adding distribution costs either. Mindanao is much farther from Luzon where the refineries are, than Cebu where pump prices are higher.

If only the variance runs in, say, centavos per liter, or even a peso or two, it can just be shrugged off as bearable. But then, diesel in the NCR is P25.25 per liter against P31.56 per liter in Cebu, or P6.31 per liter variance; unleaded gasoline in Manila is P31.15 per liter, but in Cebu it is P39.44, or a whopping rise of P7.69 per liter; and, LPG is sold at P18.25 unit price in Manila, but P24.03 in Cebu, or P5.03 unit price jack up.

One had long expected the Cebuano users and NGOs, like, the various chambers of commerce, or any price watchers to complain, but none took the initiative. Or, even the local agency of the Dept. of Energy, or the Dept. of Trade, but then, again, all silence in the Cebu front.

It’s thus a breath of fresh air that Cebu’s mother at the helm, Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia, has once again taken up the challenge against a rank unfairness. The latest word from the Provincial Capitol, after that song-and-dance of the 3 oil giants reps, it has filed a formal complaint against the three leading oil companies for selling their products in Cebu much, much higher than sold in the NCR and Mindanao, and probably elsewhere nationwide.

What’s exasperating is why other Cebu officialdom of all types hasn’t thought of taking any step to make a difference in true public service! Indeed, elementary is the concept that, to paraphrase Lady Gwen, “whether politically right or wrong, I will always fight for the Cebuanos against any injustice”. Whether she succeeds or fails – what with Senator Legarda’s pet oil deregulation law (RA 9003) and, despite the “cartelization and predatory pricing” proviso – Gov. Gwen’s boldness and wisdom will stand out. Even a Don Quijote reversal in fighting the windmill in fiction, wouldn’t be a shame!

Cebuanos can thank their lucky stars that they have someone up there who’ll fight for them. And, indeed, Secretary Angelo Reyes of the Dept. of Energy has a lot of restless shifting body language why his office has not taken up the cudgels for the energy consumers in general.

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