Creation of special force to curb oil smuggling pushed

The influential Consumer Oil and Price Watch (COPW) is pushing for the creation of a special force that will oversee an intensified campaign against smuggling in the oil industry.

COPW chairman Raul T. Concepcion said this was one of the proposals raised during the recent Economic Summit.

"President Arroyo wants good governance to prevail not only in the government but also in the private sector. It is about time that the private sector leads a campaign against oil smugglers," Concepcion said.

Concepcion noted that new oil players are being linked to some of the smuggling activities in the country.

"The new players should police themselves. They should not always depend on the government to curb smuggling. They should police their ranks," he said.

He said the private sector should be proactive. "As stockholders in the summit, businessmen should take the initiative to watch each other and curb any illegal activities," he added.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has intensified efforts to crackdown oil smuggling in the country that results to lower revenues for the government and decreasing sales for the oil industry players.

Energy Secretary Vincent Perez said oil smugglers do not pay a three-percent import duty as well as specific tax, giving them undue advantage over the country’s three oil refiners such as Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., and Caltex Phils. Inc.

In August this year, the DOE apprehended an owner of a shipyard in Cebu that was apparently smuggling oil products which reportedly came in from Indonesia.

Perez said the DOE is coordinating with different government agencies such as the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to apprehend these alleged oil smugglers. Up to now, though, the government authorities have yet to prosecute oil smugglers.

The energy chief said the smuggling activities are dampening the petroleum product consumption in the Philippines since last year.

"Along with slowdown in demand, smuggling could be one of the other reasons," the energy secretary said. – Donnabelle Gatdula