Zubiri bucks OPSF revival

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — As another round of oil price hikes looms this week, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has opposed suggestions of some lawmakers to revive the Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF), stressing that it will only further enrich oil companies.

Zubiri, who inspected here yesterday the ongoing construction of Bacolod City Museum and City General Hospital that he has funded, said that instead of spending billions for oil price subsidy, they should increase or expand the voucher system, which extends subsidy to the public transport sector.

Some lawmakers have pushed for the revival of the OPSF, which was established by the administration of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1984, to cushion the impact of the oil price increases.

Zubiri maintained that it is wrong to give P20 billion to oil companies just to lower fuel prices.

As fuel prices have risen in the past six consecutive weeks, another increase is expected next week, of more than P1 per liter for gasoline, diesel and kerosene.

The Senate President is also pushing for the use of electric vehicles, which use batteries to operate, noting that many shops are now making public utility vehicles, buses, modern jeepneys and trucks, among others.