"Fuel shortage" alarm transport group

CEBU, Philippines - The local transport sector has expressed alarm over the recent pronouncement of the Department of Energy and oil companies that the country may run out of fuel with the continued prize freeze of petroleum products in certain areas in Luzon.

“That is very alarming. Kung mahurot na ang atong fuel, wala nay mga sakyanan nga managan,” says Benjamin Ryan Yu, chairman of the Cebu Integrated Transport Services Cooperative.

CITRASCO is the biggest transport company in Cebu with 800 jeepneys and 200 taxis operating. CITRASCO alone consumes about 16,000 liters of fuel daily.

Yu, the president of the Cebu Conferederation of Transport Operators and Drivers Inc., said that if not dealt with, the fuel crisis will not only affect jeepneys, taxis and buses, but the shipping industry and truckers in the long run.

The 1- United Transport Koalisyon or 1- UTAK of which Yu also functions as vice president, already sent a letter to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for Malacañang to come up with contingency measures.

Yu said controlling the prices of fuel in general is good for the consuming public, but the government should consider other options considering that oil companies have already threatened not to import fuel as doing so would reportedly be disadvantageous to them.

Yu said 1-UTAK itself supports Executive Order 839, which placed the price freeze in place, but suggested that the government come up with a back-up supply should the oil companies make good of their threat.

Earlier, the Department of Justice recommended the partial lifting of EO 839 in selected areas in Luzon.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued the executive order following the damage brought about by the recent storms that struck the country.

Although oil prices in Luzon remained frozen at 15 October 2009 levels in compliance of the said EO, oil prices in Visayas and Mindanao areas moved according to price changes in the world market. These areas are not covered by the said EO, hence the true costs of the products based on the international price movements are reflected.

Small and big oil companies have since opposed the prize freeze because aside from fear of supply shortage, they will also incur huge financial losses.

Last Monday, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes announced that the country’s inventory of finished petroleum products would only last to up to 13 days. Still, the government remains unfazed by the threat.

Pilipinas Shell, one of the country’s biggest oil companies, already sought refuge with the Makati Regional Court on the issue. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/JMO  (THE FREEMAN)