The national youth group Anakbayan called on lawmakers today to focus
on pending legislation in Congress regarding petroleum prices, saying
it has lost hope that President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III and the
Dept. of Energy (DOE) will take any real steps towards stopping the
overpricing done by local oil companies.
Members of the organization joined other sectors in a picket today in
front of the House of Representatives to express their support for
House Bills 4355 (“Regulating the Downstream Petroleum Industry”,
filed by Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna) and 4317 (“Repealing of Oil
Deregulation Law”, filed by Rep. Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis
Partylist).
“We are appealing to the legislative branch to address the problem of
oil overpricing because it is clear that the executive branch, all the
way up to the Chief Executive Noynoy Aquino himself, is in cahoots
with the ‘Big 3’ oil cartel” said Vencer Crisostomo, national
chairperson of Anakbayan.
According to the youth leader, it was not surprising that the
President would side with the oil cartel, given his track record of
siding with corporations in their disputes with common Filipinos, such
as in the case of Hacienda Luisita Incorporated, and several foreign
mining firms in the country.
He also mentioned that Aquino stood to gain tens of billions in pesos
by allowing the ‘Big 3’ to keep inflating its prices. In a recent
Congressional study, it was estimated that the government earned an
additional P70 billion in Value Added Tax (VAT) on oil last year. Such
so-called ‘windfall earnings’ do not go to the national budget, but
becomes part of the so-called ‘discretionary funds’ of the Office of
the President, which is also known as the ‘presidential pork barrel’.
Crisostomo added a more ‘personal’ angle, citing the fact that San
Miguel Corporation, owned by presidential relative Danding Cojuangco,
is the majority owner of one of the ‘Big 3’: Petron.
