Home 
MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made an appeal for a rollback in the prices of diesel.
Oil companies led by oil firm giants Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Inc. responded and were expected to reduce prices of diesel by P1.50 effective 12:01 a.m. on Monday, less than 48 hours after these companies raised diesel price at a whopping P3 per liter.
The rollback was received with mixed reactions by jeepney drivers and operators in Cebu as well as the administration and opposition senators in Manila.
“Mas maayo unta kung gikan sa P1.50 muhinay-hinay ug os-os, kaysa magpadayun ug saka (It would be better if the prices of fuel would continue to decrease than increase),” said jeepney driver Robert Demotor, 32, and a father of two children.
He added the P1.50 reduction in the prices of diesel would not have much impact because diesel still costs more than P55 a liter.
Ryan Benjamin Yu, vice chairman of the Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative, said that while they welcomed the rollback, drivers and operators shouldn’t be too complacent because the rollback might just be followed by another increase in the next few days.
Senator Mar Roxas was surprised that Ms. Arroyo intervened in the oil companies’ pricing decisions after she repeatedly rejected calls to ease the tax burden on fuel buyers.
“Apparently, oil price can be adjusted according to Malacañang intervention. So why not earlier? How much more can it be lowered?” asked Roxas, who has continued to push for the suspension of the VAT on oil as one of the keys to providing immediate relief to consumers.
At a rare Sunday news conference in Malacañang, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza announced the P1.50 rollback of diesel fuel, particularly by Shell and Petron.
“We are happy to announce that there was a positive response from the oil companies,” Dureza told reporters. “By midnight Sunday, which will effectively be Monday, a roll back of P1.50 for diesel fuel will be made effective.”
Dureza thanked the oil companies for immediately heeding President Arroyo’s appeal, saying this will “go a long way in cushioning the impact of oil prices on the masses, especially those using diesel fuel.”
While the Palace only made the presidential appeal to Shell and Petron, both Dureza and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the seven other oil firms in the country were expected to follow the lead taken by Shell and Petron and would roll back diesel prices as well.
Dureza said Ms. Arroyo had instructed Ermita “in coordination with Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes” to appeal to these two main players in the oil industry for a rollback in diesel price.
In a phone interview, Ermita said that just like everyone, Ms. Arroyo was taken aback by the “big leap” in diesel price and thus, instructed him to appeal to oil firms for a rollback.
Ermita said he called on Saturday Petron president Nick Alcantara, who was abroad, and then later met with Petron spokesperson Vivian Ruivivar. He also spoke to Shell president Edgar Chua.
“We suggested they ... roll back the price by P1.50 because the P3 increase was really hefty,” he said.
Ermita said he told Shell and Petron that maybe they could “find a way later on to recover” their losses due to soaring oil prices worldwide.
He said the two oil firms were “very accommodating” to the request and that an elated President Arroyo told him to thank them.
“It’s an appeal from the President. So how can we actually turn it down considering the concerns she has concerning the impact of the rather hefty increase which was necessary?” Ruivivar told reporters by phone at Dureza’s news conference in Malacañang.
Asked if it was only Ms. Arroyo’s simple appeal that made them agree to a rollback, Ruivivar replied: “I think it’s (a) question of moderating the adjustment, so in time we will find how... to fully recover our cost because we cannot operate at a loss.”
“It’s a question of absorbing something at this point and then trying to find ways in the future to make up for it,” she added.
She said the rollback of diesel was “doable” and that they just have to “phase our own adjustment.”
Ruivivar made it clear that Petron was responding to President Arroyo’s appeal for a rollback “in consideration of the objectives of the government” which was to soften the blow to consumers.
Dureza denied that Ms. Arroyo’s appeal for a rollback to oil firms was connected to the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey that showed she was the most unpopular leader in the country.
“The President, irrespective of whether she’s popular or unpopular, will do what is right for the nation,” the press secretary said.
Dureza stressed that the President made an appeal in order to help “cushion the adverse impact of the oil price hike to the greater majority.”
Oil companies, he said, should continue with efforts to explain to the public why they were increasing the price of oil products.
Administration and opposition senators complimented Ms. Arroyo for persuading oil companies to cut fuel prices.
“At least her action exposed the deplorable attitude of oil companies to unconscionably raise local prices at the slightest spike in the price of oil in the world market. If only for that, at least this time, we should be grateful to her,” Senator Panfilo Lacson said.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said that while the public was “thankful” for her intervention, he urged Ms Arroyo to be more consistent by using the same motivation to slash fuel prices by suspending the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on oil.
While he believed that the move was part of her “survival gimmicks,” Cayetano said the President could still do more. “Instead of giving us tough statements and lip service, she should address tax collections that were being bloated by record high oil prices.”
Senator Francis Escudero, however, doubted whether Ms. Arroyo’s intervention could be sustained.
“It’s just persuasive. It is not based on any provision of law. So why not amend the Oil Deregulation Law?” Escudero asked. /Inquirer with Correspondent Justin Anjuli Vestil
