Warning to profiteers: Gov’t will run after you
President Marcos on Monday warned profiteers exploiting the worsening situation in the Middle East that the government will pursue legal action against them.
“If you take advantage of the situation, there will be consequences. You may face charges and could even lose the opportunity to continue doing business,” Palace press officer Claire Castro, speaking for the President, told reporters in New York City on Monday (Philippine time). “Whatever is happening now in the Middle East, we should come together and help one another. We do not need to pull each other down.”
The President is on a two-day working visit to New York to attend meetings and deliver an address before the United Nations General Assembly.
Fuel prices saw their highest single-week adjustment this week by as much as P38.50 per liter.
The increase in diesel prices ranged from P17.50 to P24.25 a liter, with fuel retailers splitting the adjustments into two to seven tranches, while gasoline prices were more expensive by P7 to P13 a liter starting Tuesday.
The upward adjustment for kerosene, widely used for cooking, heating as well as in aviation, ranged from P32 to P38.50 a liter.
In a media briefing, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said some oil firms had agreed to stagger the big-time price hikes, including Shell Pilipinas, Petron, Total, Chevron, Jetti Petroleum and Seaoil.
Show-cause orders
The statement from Malacañang came as the Department of Energy (DOE) issued show-cause orders against 54 gasoline stations, 26 of which are in Metro Manila, for reportedly increasing their prices ahead of March 10, when the government authorized oil firms to implement the first wave of price hikes.
“Those companies … with a 40-50 percent increase, that is very exorbitant and very obvious profiteering. But we’ll go through the due process under the law,” Garin said.
Failure to comply may result in the suspension or cancellation of the company’s permit to operate.
The DOE, she said, is working with other government agencies to streamline the reporting of noncompliant petrol outlets.
One of these is the Philippine National Police, which has deployed more police officers to monitor gasoline stations across the country.
“Since day one of the crisis, that has been the order of our chief… to intensify the patrolling of gasoline stations nationwide,” PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño told reporters on Monday.
According to Tuaño, the PNP’s role is to provide law enforcement support for the DOE, assist in investigation and evidence-gathering on violations, support inspections and monitoring operations, and file cases against violators.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. earlier warned gas station officials that they face arrest if found liable for raising prices ahead of schedule or are withholding their supply.
“Our intelligence units are monitoring warehouses for possible hoarding and other similar illegal activities,” he added.
Emergency powers
Mr. Marcos on Monday also formally requested Congress to pass a measure that would grant him emergency powers to reduce the tax on petroleum products amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The President earlier expressed his intention to exercise emergency powers to cut the tax on petroleum products if Dubai crude oil prices reach or exceed $80 (P4,750.12) per barrel.
Dubai crude oil surged to $99.14 (P5,886.59) per barrel on Monday, up sharply from $68 (P4,037.60) before the conflict in the Middle East started on Feb. 28.
Iran has closed down access to the Strait of Hormuz, shutting down access of tankers to and from oil-exporting Gulf states.
This resulted in a shortage in global oil supply and jacked up the prices of petroleum products, which is expected to create a domino effect on the prices of food, transport fares and other basic goods. (See related story in World, Page A6.)
Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, mandates the automatic suspension of excise on petroleum products if the average Dubai oil price reaches $80 per barrel for three consecutive months.
However, this threshold expired in 2020, prompting President Marcos to ask Congress for emergency powers.
Supplemental budget
In Congress, Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday called for an emergency supplemental budget of P52.8 billion to cope with the “economic shock” of the increase in oil prices.
“It is necessary to discuss, prepare and pass an emergency supplemental budget package, which my office estimates will amount to P52.8 billion,” Hontiveros said in a briefing.
The additional budget will be broken down into P12 billion in transport subsidies, P2.8 billion in agricultural subsidies, and at least P38 billion to put up an emergency overseas Filipino workers fund for both repatriation and reintegration programs.
During the House committee on ways and means hearing on proposals to suspend the fuel excise, Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon of the Department of Economy, Planning and Development said they have two scenarios to simulate the war’s effect: the first assumes oil prices rising to $99.8 (P5,925.77) a barrel but with war ending soon, while the second considers a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran in which oil prices will surge to $140 (P8,312.71) a barrel.
According to Edillon, if Scenario 2 unfolds, the country may be looking at P96 a liter of diesel, before any possible fuel tax suspension.
The Department of Finance estimated a revenue loss of P136 billion for May-December 2026 if excise on petroleum products are removed. —WITH REPORTS FROM JASON SIGALES AND KEITH CLORES
******
Get real-time news updates: inqnews.net/inqviber
