April 14, 2010
Press Release
Youth groups Anakbayan and Kabataan Partylist staged a noise barrage in Quezon City today in protest of the recent round of oil price hikes. They further challenged the presidentiables to finally put an end to the seesaw trend of oil prices by scrapping the Oil Deregulation Law (ODL).
Yesterday, oil prices increased by as much as P1/L. The price hike was the 7th increase incurred for this year.
Anakbayan chairperson Ken Ramos said that “many politicians, especially presidentiables continue to keep silent on the issue of oil price hikes, despite its impact on the everyday lives of Filipinos. They should realize that the coming elections must respond to the people’s needs. It is a platform for pushing meaningful policy changes to stop price increases that greatly burden the people.”
“The never-ending price increases has caused much anxiety among the people for a long time. Even more depressing is the powerlessness the people feel due to the Big Three’s monopoly control resulting from the Oil Deregulation Law,” Ramos added.
“Under the Arroyo regime, what we actually experienced is a collusion between oil cartels and the President. Together, they squeezed out of the people every last centavo of their earnings. Will the next president be willing to reverse this practice? Will those gunning for the presidency be pro-people enough to push for the removal of the Oil Deregulation Law?” said Ramos.
Recent statements from the Department of Energy forecast further increases for the remainder of the year. Oil prices have increased by as much as P5/L this year.
“The people will not tolerate higher oil prices in the coming year. In act, the people demand and need prices to go down. The most important step in achieving this aim is the scrapping of the ODL, to be followed by a program for nationalizing the downstream oil industry. Those willing to pursue this step can be considered viable options in the coming elections,” Ramos concluded. (Bulatlat.com)
Reference Person:
KEN RAMOS
National Chairperson
