MANILA, Philippines – Heeding the call of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) suppliers yesterday reduced further the price of their LPG products by P6 per kilo.
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. initiated the rollback effective 12:01 a.m. today.
Petron Corp. followed Shell’s move with the same level of reduction and time of implementation.
Virginia Ruivivar, Petron public affairs manager, said the LPG rollback reflects international contract prices for LPG this month.
“For this month, we have rolled back LPG prices by P10 per kilo or equivalent to P110 per kilo for an 11-kg LPG cylinder,” Ruivivar said.
Petron will also cut the price of its AutoLPG product by P3.76 per liter, she said.
Seaoil Philippines Inc. also announced a rollback of P2 per liter for its auto LPG effective yesterday at 6 p.m.
“This should bring our pump prices to about P24 per liter. This makes the price of Seaoil AutoLPG Excel lower by P18 per liter against gasoline or about P720 to P1,080 advance for AutoLPG taxi cabs and other motorists consuming 40 to 60 liters daily,” Seaoil president Glenn Yu said.
Meanwhile, Total Philippines Inc. said it will reduce the price of its LPG products by P6 per kilo.
Data from the Department of Energy showed that as of Nov. 4 or before the P6 price cut, the price of 11-kilo LPG tank ranged from P545 to P627.
The DOE data also showed that AutoLPG prices, before the price reduction, stood at P25.90 to P30.20 per liter.
Reyes said there should be P5 to P7 per kilo more rollback on LPG prices this week.
While pump prices are going down, it is expected that electricity rates in rural areas will go up by as much as 35 to 94 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh) if the proposed amendments on the Cooperative Code of the Philippines (CCP) are passed.
Some 108 electric cooperative members of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca) told a press conference yesterday that the proposal would not only increase power rates substantially in the rural areas but also stop the electrification efforts in far-flung areas.
In a manifesto submitted to Congress the other day, Philreca members called for the scrapping of all amendments in House Bill 4312 and Senate Bill 2264 pertaining to electric coops (ECs).
Batangas II Electric Cooperative Inc. general manager Marilyn Caguimbal said power rates within their franchise area will substantially go up by 94 centavos per kWh due to interest on change of ownership and other costs if the CCP is approved.
“Our rate now is P1.50 per kWh lower than the country’s biggest private electric utility firm’s rate. Our customers will surely suffer if these amendments are passed because our rates will substantially increase,” Caguimbal said.
Under the proposed legislations, if the ECs fail to register with the Cooperative Development Authority after three years, their existence as a cooperative will be declared illegal because they will be prohibited from using the word “cooperative” in their names.
But Phireca argued that they should not be barred from using the word “cooperative” in their names and from allowing ECs to have the freedom of choice of whether or not to remain as non-stock, non-profit ECs. They want to retain their present registration with the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and not be covered by the legislation, which threatens sanctions if any of the ECs refuse to register with the CDA.
The bills also called for a typical EC, with estimated total assets of P500 million and average consumer-members of 65,000, may be converted into a stock cooperative in a general assembly attended by 100 members only.
Under Presidential Decree No. 269, ECs are non-profit, thus should just be earning enough to recover costs incurred in their operations.
Philreca said the proposed amendments are not only inimical to the interests of consumers, but will contribute to the demise of ECs.