Group seeks one-time oil price increase

MANILA, Philippines - A transport group on Wednesday pushed for a one-time oil price increase to end the “agony" of the Philippine transportation industry. In a meeting of oil industry players organized by the Department of Energy (DOE), the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organization (Acto) said it preferred a lump sum increase in the pump price of fuel instead of the present staggered scheme, which it said was “killing (the transport industry) softly." “Ang gusto sana naming mangyari ay isang biglaan na lang para makahingi rin kami ng karampatang pagtaas sa pamasahe (What we want is for the oil companies to implement a one-time oil price increase so we can file for an appropriate fare hike adjustment)," Acto president Efren de Luna said. Ramon Villavicencio, chairman of the Flying V, one of the oil companies operating in the Philippines, echoed the Acto proposal. “I have a strong feeling that the transport sector wants a big increase now so they can push for a fare hike instead of the staggered oil price adjustments which are killing them softly," said Villavicencio, who has been in constant discussion with jeepney operators and drivers. Other oil industry players, however, expressed contrary views. Industrialist Raul Concepcion, chairman of the Consumer and Oil Price Watch (COPW), said increasing the oil prices in a one-time, big-time basis may “lead to a revolution." Fernando Martinez, chairman of the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA), said, “Staggered oil price increase has always been beneficial to oil companies and the consumers." He said oil prices remained volatile and nobody can predict when it will go down. “There are cases when we have to adjust our under-recoveries because the market prices have improved and this worked favorably for the consumers since we do not need to increase our prices. It’s a good thing that we did not implement a one-time oil price hike," Martinez said. “Besides, I think such move will result to upheaval." Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said he would rather leave the decision to the market. “We cannot make any comment on that. As you can see, we are a deregulated market. Pricing is determined by market forces," he said. A one-time oil price hike as proposed could result in diesel pump prices jumping by P7 to P8 per liter. United Transport Koalisyon (1-Utak) president Vigor Mendoza, on the other hand, said his group is ready to accept an oil price adjustment in diesel of P60 per liter. “We have drawn a worst case scenario of diesel reaching P60 per liter but anything beyond that is another story," Mendoza said. - GMANews.TV