Negros Occ. solon defends PNoy’s P300M fund outlay

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines    â€“ President Benigno Aquino III recently approved a P300-million fund for the operation of the Visayas Oil Price Watchdog that will monitor fuel price disparities in Negros Occidental and other areas nationwide.

The funding of the Watchdog, which will conduct fuel price downstreaming and hire manpower to do the job, has however drew criticisms from some sectors, prompting Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (3rd dist., Negros Occidental) to issue statements to defend it.

Benitez, who filed the bill creating the Watchdog, said the bulk of the fund, which will be sourced out from the Department of Energy, will be for the equipment needed by its personnel to monitor fuel prices and investigate fuel price disparity among provinces in the country.

Some quarters have criticized the fund, saying it is too big for a watchdog body. Why should the government allocate a budget for the oil price watch when it can utilize existing agencies or civic groups to do the price monitoring? they asked.

Benitez answered: “It makes it a continuous concern if we have a government-funded (body) to do the monitoring. The bulk of the P300 million will be for the capex (capital expenditure),” adding that the DOE agreed that the Watchdog is a good deterrent against price disparity and manipulation.

When asked to react if the P300-million budget is too big for such body, the lawmaker replied, “they asked for more budget to have better coverage on how the oil industry is performing,” citing the higher prices of fuel in Bacolod and the rest of Negros Occidental, as high as P8 per liter, compared with other cities and provinces.

“I hope this (watchdog) is the solution we are seeking for,” Benitez said.

Director Zenaida Monsada, head of the Oil Industry Management Bureau, earlier said the DOE lacks the personnel to closely monitor fuel pump prices nationwide. It also has no power to curb the oil price disparity that is causing Negrenses and residents of other parts of the Visayas, to pay more for their fuel than in Cebu and Metro Manila due to the Oil Deregulation Law, she explained.

Senator Francis Escudero, who was in Bacolod last week for an education summit, said he is in favor of either repealing or amending the Oil Deregulation Law.

“We have cut-throat pricing. Clearly, the Oil Deregulation Law has not and didn’t work for us,” said the senator, who further pointed out that government must be able to set the price if an area has market failure and if there is an absence of competition to prevent predatory pricing, which is being monopolized by one oil company.  (FREEMAN)