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Ex-Budget chief: Review of oil dereg law won't bring pump prices down


MANILA, Philippines - Former Budget Sec. Benjamin Diokno on Tuesday countered calls to review the Oil Deregulation Law, saying the move will not prevent oil prices from further rising. In a radio interview, Diokno said high pump prices in the local market are influenced mainly by the rising world oil prices, and not a result of the deregulation of the local oil industry. “Hindi naman magbabago yung presyo ng gasolina kung regulated or di regulated e. Bakit ba tumaas yung presyo ng gasolina saka ng mga oil products? Kasi tumaas naman talaga yung presyo niya sa merkado. Kahit ibigay mo sa gobyerno o sa private sector, parehas din yan (The price of gasoline won’t change whether we're in a deregulated environment or not. Why did the price of gasoline and oil products rise in the first place? Because prices have really gone up in the market. Even if you give control to the government or the private sector, the price will still be the same)," said Diokno in an interview with radio dzXL. In the interview, Diokno also said predicted that the price of oil per barrel in the world market will not fall below $100, at least until December which means continued woes for local consumers. “Malabo na bumaba yan below $100 hanggang Disyembre. In fact, akala ko ang worst case scenario na yung $150 (It’s unlikely that the price will fall below $100 until December. In fact, I thought the worst case scenario would be $150)," Diokno said. “Let’s not keep false hopes, kasi yan ang problema ng gobyerno. Ngayon sabi niya hindi wag kayong mag-worry, bababa yan, babalik din yan sa $70. Kaya nagkakaron ng underrecovery e (Let’s not keep false hopes; that’s the problem of the government, see. Now they’re telling people not to worry, saying oil prices will go back to $70. That’s why there is underrecovery)," added Diokno, who is also an Economics professor at the University of the Philippines. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Monday called on the government to review the Oil Deregulation Law and the expanded Value-Added Tax to see if the said laws “really helped the people." - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV
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