BIZ BUZZ: It’s not just the war
The Middle East war isn’t the sole culprit for elevated local fuel and electricity prices, billionaire Ramon Ang said, as he also pinned the blame on regulators.
Ang, who heads Petron Corp., the country’s only oil refiner, said that while the price of crude oil has ballooned to $120 per barrel from the prewar level of $70, fuel and power rates in the Philippines have long remained among the highest in Asia.
And why is that?
Well, the tycoon said to zoom into the local market and forget about the bombing attacks that have crippled supply and destroyed key energy networks in the oil-producing region.
“We are very expensive because we are the only country in Asia that imposes taxes on fuel and electricity, and we are the only country that does not provide subsidies,” he said at Petron’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Thursday.
“It’s not just because of the war—fuel and electricity are expensive because the government imposes taxes. Other countries don’t tax fuel, they even provide subsidies,” Ang said.
Ang, a leader of a business empire with interests in food and beverages, power and infrastructure, noted that fuel and power prices here are “almost three times higher” than in neighboring nations.
Finally, in April, President Marcos suspended the excise on liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene. But the bummer is that taxes on diesel and gasoline remain.
Not just on fuel, calls are already mounting for the removal of the value-added tax on system loss charges of electric utilities after a public uproar on high power rates this April, with some even questioning the subsidies provided for senior citizens and poor households.
Should we still blame the world for government-inflicted pain?
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