This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 6, March 11-17, 2007
Gasoline, Diesel Prices Now More than Double
Since Arroyo became
president
As of
January 2007, the prevailing pump price of gasoline and diesel is now more than
twice their price when President Gloria Arroyo took over in January 2001.
BY IBON Foundation
Posted by Bulatlat
As of January 2007, the prevailing pump price of
gasoline and diesel is now more than twice their price when President Gloria
Arroyo took over in January 2001.
Compared with their respective levels before the
downstream oil industry was deregulated in April 1996, the pump price of
gasoline is now more than six times higher while that of diesel is more than
eight times higher. In addition, the current pump price of gasoline and diesel
is almost four times and five times, respectively of their price at the start of
deregulation. These figures also show that 62.98 percent of the increases in the
pump price of gasoline and 57.63 percent of the increases in the pump price of
diesel since the oil industry was deregulated happened under the term of Arroyo.
(See Table 1)
Table 1
Comparative pump price of
premium gasoline and diesel
Period
Premium gasoline
Diesel
Before deregulation
(1972-1995 average)
5.99
3.98
Start of deregulation
(prevailing pump price on April 1996, the month RA 8180* was passed)
9.50
7.03
Start of Arroyo’s term
(prevailing pump price on January 2001)
16.56
13.82
Present price (prevailing
pump price as of January 2007)
37.33
32.62
* RA 8180 refers to the first oil deregulation
law which was replaced by RA 8479
Compiled by IBON based on DOE data
The Arroyo government can of course argue that
the oil price increases during its watch were very steep due to developments in
the world oil market that are beyond its control. But government should be held
accountable because of its deregulation policy that allowed domestic oil prices
to soar. Since the oil industry was deregulated, there have been at least 81
rounds of oil price hikes (OPH) for diesel or an average of more than eight OPH
rounds per year compared with only one round annually before the industry was
deregulated. In 2005 and 2006 alone, at least 36 rounds of OPH for diesel have
been recorded. (See Table 2)
Table 2
Summary of OPH and rollback
rounds for diesel pump price
Period
OPH
Rollback
1971 - March 1996
23
15
April 1996 - November 1997 (RA
8180) a.
7
3
December 1997 - June 1998
(Transition Period)
2
2
July 1998 - December 2004 (RA
8479) b.
38
11
2005
19
6
2006
17
12
As of January 2007
0
3
Notes:
a. The SC declared RA 8180,
unconstitutional on Nov. 5, 1997.
b. Congress passed RA 8479 in Feb. 1998 and
full deregulation took effect in Jul. 1998.
Compiled by IBON based on DOE data
If only to check the uncontainable price
increases of oil products, which soared tremendously during its watch, the
Arroyo government should have long repealed Republic Act (RA) 8479 or the
Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998.
Unfortunately, it continued to implement this
flawed policy while misleading the public that the solution lies in its
alternative fuels program such as RA 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006. Such
program, however, does not answer the urgent problem of frequent oil price hikes
and exorbitant prices and only serves the interests of landlords and big
businessmen involved in the sugar and coconut industries, including Arroyo’s own
family. IBON Foundation/posted by Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
■
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(in P per liter)