UMASA NA LANG SA FREEBIES?
BAYAN BLASTS DOE AMID NON-STOP OIL PRICE HIKES
Multisectoral group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) strongly criticized the Department of Energy (DOE) for feigning helplessness as fuel prices soared for the third straight week this year.
On Tuesday, oil companies hiked diesel prices by ₱2 per liter, gasoline by ₱1, and kerosene by ₱1.50. In response, the DOE said it is coordinating with the private sector on possible discounts and freebies to ease the impact on consumers.
Bayan said that what the public needs is decisive government intervention, not stopgap measures that rely on the supposed generosity of businesses. State regulation is crucial, the group argued, because even without supply disruptions, market speculation amid tensions involving major oil producers such as Iran and Venezuela could drive further price hikes. Price increases in basic consumer items such as food, as well as services including transport fares, could soon follow.
Unfortunately, energy officials have long justified the government’s inaction under the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998, which allows automatic adjustments in fuel prices. Bayan argued that the three-decade-old law, pushed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has exposed Filipino consumers to exorbitant petroleum prices and abuses by oil firms.
Diesel prices have already increased by a total of ₱2.40 per liter this year, gasoline by ₱1.20, and kerosene by ₱1.90. Last year, retail prices of diesel and gasoline rose by nearly ₱21 per liter. While rising fuel costs batter the public, big oil companies owned by foreign interests and local oligarchs allied with the Marcos Jr. regime are raking in obscene profits. Ramon Ang’s Petron Corporation alone pocketed ₱9.70 billion in the first three quarters of 2025.
Bayan renewed its call to junk the Oil Deregulation Law and implement a price regulation scheme as part of a long-term program to exercise effective state control over the country’s upstream and downstream oil industries. It called on Congress to urgently begin reviewing Republic Act 8479, which deregulated domestic pump prices.
Amid the flood control corruption scandal that blatantly plundered people’s taxes, Bayan added that removing the 12% value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum products would also provide immediate and much-needed relief to the public. Scrapping the oil VAT could instantly bring down pump prices by an estimated ₱6 per liter for diesel and gasoline and more than ₱8 per liter for kerosene, based on current pump prices.
Without these meaningful policy reforms, Bayan warned the Marcos Jr. regime of growing public unrest in the coming months, driven by worsening economic conditions caused by rising prices and the unresolved political scandal linked to the flood control mess.
#NoToOilPriceHike #PresyoIbaba
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