DOE told: Release audit on oil firms

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang wants the Department of Energy (DOE) to release the results of the audit conducted on oil firms a few months ago.

The DOE hired reputed accounting firms to look into the books of the oil companies in order to see if their pricing is justifiable and that there are no irregularities.

Interviewed over state-run dzRB, deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo acknowledged that the auditing process would take some time but said the report should be expected very soon.

“I believe this is something that should be released by the Department of Energy, by Secretary (Angelo) Reyes,” Fajardo said.

She said the President has been following up on the DOE’s actions on the recommendations given at the conclusion of the Energy Summit held early last month.

In a related development, Malacañang expressed its gratitude to transport groups for deferring its fare hike petitions as well as the reported transport strike this coming week.

Fajardo said a transport strike would be ill-timed since classes all over the country start next week.

She said the government is working overtime on the increase in fuel discounts to be given to the transport sector in response to hikes in domestic pump prices.

“So hopefully, it would be implemented the soonest possible time. I don’t know if the LTFRB (Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board) can do this within the week. But they have committed to work overtime on this,” Fajardo said.

And with the price of oil continuing on its upward path, Malacañang also appealed to the public to do its share in conserving energy instead of being overly dependent on the government for solutions.

While the government has taken several measures to ease the burden of high oil prices on consumers, Fajardo said that the public should also learn to conserve on fuel.

“If it’s possible, we would like to ask the people not to pass all of the burden on the government because everyone also has his own role to play in contributing to the solutions,” Fajardo said.

She said the people could try other ways, including using bicycles, walking and car-pooling, all of which could help bring down the consumption of oil in the country.

President Arroyo has issued a number of orders aimed at conserving energy at the government level.

Among her directives are for the government offices to switch off their air conditioners at 4:30 in the afternoon, to use only fluorescent lamps for lighting, to cut down on fuel consumption by 10 percent and to convert a portion of all government vehicles to liquefied petroleum gas from gasoline and diesel.

“So we also expect the same from the public, not only for those who are working in the government,” Fajardo said.