Sen. Erwin Tulfo is pushing for changes to the country’s decades-old oil deregulation law, saying oil companies should be required to explain how they come up with fuel prices.
Tulfo, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, said consumers are often left with little choice whenever oil companies announce steep price increases.
“The oil companies will just say ‘tomorrow, we will increase the prices by 5 pesos per liter,’ then we will have no choice but to pay,” he said.
Tulfo wants the Department of Energy (DOE) to be given stronger powers to monitor oil companies and demand greater transparency in fuel pricing.
“What we will do is we will strengthen the powers of the Department of Energy (DOE) over these companies. No more arbitrary price shocks—they will have to explain why they increase their prices in a certain way,” he added.
Tulfo said the issue has been raised repeatedly, particularly by the transport sector, which has to deal directly with higher fuel costs.
The senator said consumers have also noticed that fuel price increases can be quick and steep, while rollbacks are sometimes much smaller.
Tulfo compared the problem with concerns surrounding the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, saying outdated policies can end up making ordinary consumers shoulder costs they should not have to pay.
He said some may argue that changes to the law would only reduce fuel prices by a few pesos.
But for families already struggling with high prices, he said every peso saved matters.
“What matters is the principle. You cannot just sit idly and let the ordinary Filipinos pay for services that they did not benefit from, or pay fuel without understanding how it was priced,” Tulfo said.
The senator said the proposed reforms are ultimately about making oil pricing more transparent and protecting consumers from sudden price shocks.IMT
