NEDA wants to amend oil deregulation law

The Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that it wants to amend the country’s 10-year-old oil deregulation law to protect consumers from high petroleum product pump prices set by oil companies. The results of a NEDA study claimed that local prices were overpriced by as much as Php8 (US$0.17). Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said there is a need to revisit the oil deregulation law to protect consumers and to give power to the Energy department. The Oil Deregulation Law of 1998 had removed government control over the pricing of retail products, giving oil firms a free hand to dictate local rates. On the other hand, non-government think tank IBON Foundation said that oil firms are taking advantage of volatile oil prices to “pad their prices, since they are not lowering pump prices in line with global oil price and foreign exchange rate movements.” The research group stressed that industry players have long been using the oil deregulation law as a cover for their extremely high profits, adding that the Supreme Court should review its recent decision upholding the constitutionality of the said law. (May 21, 2009)