Unioil

Thursday, July 16, 2009

By Efren L. Danao, Senior Reporter, MANILA TIMES

Sen. Francis Pangilinan called on Wednesday for a boycott of Shell, Caltex and Petron unless they follow the lead of Unioil and reduce the prices of their oil products.

He said that Unioil’s decision to cut the price of their gasoline and diesel by as much as P4.75 a liter showed that there was still room for the Big 3 of the local oil industry to reduce their prices also.

“If Unioil can reduce its prices, then the Big 3 could afford to reduce theirs also because they have a deeper pocket,” he said.

He warned that any refusal of Shell, Caltex and Petron to reduce their prices would affect their prestige and image as socially responsible companies.

He said that a boycott of the Big 3, should they refuse to lower their prices, would tell them that the people are willing to act against “insensitive policies.”

“Boycott them for a day or two so they will feel the pain. If their revenue goes down, that will send them the message that the people are angry,” Pangilinan said.

He said that oil firms are undeniably earning a lot of money and that it is always the consumers who are at the losing end. He believed that there could be a change if the people boycott the Big 3 oil firms.

He also criticized Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes for failing to open the books of oil firms despite repeated announcements that he would do so.

“If Secretary Reyes cannot do his job, then he should resign,” he said.

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said Reyes had been a mere “barker” of increases and decreases in oil prices instead of auditing the books of oil firms.

“The law gave him the power to audit the oil firms. President Gloria Arroyo had ordered him to start the audit. He had announced a number of times that he would do so. Yet, until now, he still has to do so,” he said.

He urged Reyes to stop thinking about politics and focus on his job. He noted that Reyes is reportedly set to run in 2010.

Meanwhile, Sen. Manuel Villar said that the Oil Industry Deregulation Law should be reviewed because it had muddled the pricing of oil products.

“The pricing in a deregulated regime has not been very clear. There is a long lag time in decreases,” he said.

Consumers have been complaining that when world oil prices go down, it is taking oil companies a long time to make a commensurate reduction in their prices.

Villar said a review would not necessarily mean the return of subsidy for petroleum products.

“We cannot afford to subsidize oil products,” he admitted.