MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the Department of Energy (DoE) to do an "intensive audit" on oil and power companies to determine if the current prices of oil were justified given the downward trend of oil prices in the world market.
"There is now elasticity in prices of oil in world market, there is already downward movement in the past yet despite this oil companies continue to increase their prices because of under recovery. . . . The objective of the audit is to ensure that consumers will benefit from the actual prices of oil in the world market," Presidential Management Staff chief Cerge Remonde said in a news briefing Tuesday.
Remonde said the President made the order during the Cabinet meeting Tuesday of the NEDA Cabinet group and the price coordinating council and power and oil councils in Malacañang.
Without giving a deadline to the DoE, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the President wanted the public to immediately enjoy the benefits of lower pump prices.
"We know there is volatility [in prices of oil], but what thePresident wants is if there is reduction, it must immediately be passed on [to the consumers]," Dureza said in the same news briefing.
Remonde said agencies such as the Commission on Audit (COA) might be tapped to help the DoE do the audit.
He acknowledged that there were ongoing efforts by the DoE to look into the books of oil firms, but stressed that the President wanted a "more strict and tedious" audit this time.
Asked if the order was brought about by suspicions that oil firms were charging too much, Remonde said, "It's not really suspicion, let's say it's part of government's due diligence."
"Oil companies are saying they are having under recoveries, the government is doing its job of checking if it's true," he added.
Oil prices fell by more than $1 to near Monday's three-month low below $120 a barrel in a sharp retreat from a record above $147 touched in mid-July, on signs of rising output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at a time of declining world demand, reports said.
Despite this, oil companies in the country rolled back its pump prices twice since last month after implementing an increase for about 20 times since January.
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3 comments:
it is good that the government audit it but there is still doubt because the government has a bad image and can manipulate almost everything. who knows if they will just receive money or they are the ones that will give money. one possible way to decrease the price is that they lessen the vat on oil
benefit from oil? haha.
i don't think that the government can really help THAT much in the case of oil prices. i mean, it ISN'T really in our control, is it? the press is our way of knowing the results of these orders but just how sure are we that these are real? how can we be sure that the reports aren't just those that the government wants us to know? they could easily say that, for example, the price has gone up $3 when in fact it only went up $1 right?
may kanya-kanyang trabaho ang bawat kagawaran ng bansa gayundin ang bawat opisyal..isang tungkulin ng DoE na tignan kung tama ba ang mga presyong binibigay ng mga gasolinahan..hindi na siguro kailangan pang utusan sila para lang gawin iyon..ano pa't naluklok sila sa kanilang posisyon?? magpayaman? tumunganga?
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