Oil companies asked to hold prices

Malacañang can apply only "moral suasion" on the so-called "Big Three" and the other minor players in the domestic oil industry in its efforts to "mitigate the impact" of spiraling crude oil prices in the world market.

In his daily Palace briefing, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that the government, through Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Vicente Perez, has been "in constant dialogue" with the oil companies.

"The Department of Energy is exhausting all options so that we would be able to cushion the impact of the increasing world price of oil. And we have a menu of activities. We have a menu of options that are being pursued by the (DOE)," he said.

Bunye said that among the options being considered was the extension of a DOE arrangement with oil companies like Pilipinas Shell and Eastern Petroleum that allowed diesel, the fuel being used by jeepneys and buses, to be sold at a discount at designated gas stations.

Bunye was apparently unaware that the oil companies had already announced that they will stop the sale of discounted diesel by next week, when the fare hike for jeepney and buses takes effect.

When told of the fact, Bunye could only reply that DOE officials "are using their moral suasion on the officials of the oil companies to temper or to continue to keep open various options in order to mitigate" the effects of the oil price increase.

But Bunye insisted that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) "is on top of the situation" in terms of the monitoring of prices of basic goods in public markets.

He said that DTI officials "have been getting in touch with the market operators in order for them to temper their prices."