By MYRNA VELASCO
The Department of Energy (DoE) has asked oil companies to grant another round of price discounts for public transport.
This was confirmed yesterday by DoE Assistant Director Rodela Romero.
Romero said the target is for higher discounts in pump prices for public utility vehicles – from what was initially enforced at R1.00 per liter on March 1, the period when excise taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act had been implemented full swing.
“We are requesting them (oil companies) to expand or increase the number of stations offering discounts,” Romero said.
She noted that the targeted amount is not fixed this time, but the energy department is eyeing that discount rates will be set higher from where they are at currently.
The energy official added that other form of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, especially for the public transport segment and other marginalized sectors equally affected by soaring oil prices, will be inordinately encouraged.
DoE Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido III further qualified that the meeting with the oil companies this week, “was to discuss how we could help consumers with the increasing international oil prices.”
Yesterday, the DoE’s Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) also made its rounds at oil firm stations to countercheck if there are some players who have been taking advantage of the situation.
In March, three oil companies – Petron Corporation, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. – formally committed to the energy department on the “price discount program” for the transport sector. This was sealed then through a memorandum of agreement they signed with Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
