OIL company executives will be summoned to Congress due to the series of oil price increases.
The continuous surge in petroleum product prices prompted House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to summon officials of oil companies to alleviate the hardship of Filipinos.
According to Speaker Romualdez, Congress will seek solutions to the increasing oil prices, especially since the government’s hands are tied to the oil deregulation law.
Although oil prices in the Philippines depend on the global market, Romualdez pointed out that companies are still selling supplies bought at lower prices before the costs of crude oil in the world market increase.
“It is common knowledge that oil companies still sell supplies bought at lower prices before the costs of crude oil in the world market increased. Maybe we can ask them not to increase prices for now,” according to House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The Congress intends to find out what actions oil companies can take to help ease the burden on Filipinos and will also scrutinize pending proposals aimed at amending the oil deregulation law to determine possible measures to lower the price of petroleum.
“We want to hear from them what they can do to help in this kind of situation, and if indeed they are willing to help at all because these oil price hikes have been a burden to our fellow citizens,” Romualdez added.
For PDP-Laban President and Palawan Rep. Jose Alvarez, summoning the companies is a good gesture, especially since the issues concerning oil and rice supplies differ.
“But for oil, the reason behind it is the war in Russia and Ukraine. so, prices will return to normal if the Russia-Ukraine war is stopped. Unless there’s a cartel, they can manipulate the prices. Saudi Arabia would lead the cartel, and they want the prices to rise. They can increase it, but not like this now. So the speaker’s move to talk to them about what they can contribute is a good move,” according to Rep. Jose Chaves Alvarez, President, PDP-Laban.
Meanwhile, the schedule for summoning the oil industry players is still being finalized.
The oil industry players may be summoned to Congress in the coming week.
