EDITORIAL - Playing blind

As chief of the armed forces, Angelo Reyes made a name for himself by helping topple a corrupt president. In gratitude for that crucial support, the next president gifted Reyes with a number of Cabinet appointments.

His latest portfolio is as energy secretary, a stint made remarkable as the previous ones for its utter lack of anything remarkable. Because of the many developments affecting the energy sector, one would have thought Reyes to be on his toes, to be on top of the situation.

But listen to him speak on the matter of lpg prices. According to Reyes, he expects LPG prices to stabilize in two weeks based on data provided him by the industry players. WTF! Does Reyes mean to say he has no data of his own?

If Reyes depends on the industry players to provide him with their own data, then this country will never be able to determine the real situation in the energy sector because you cannot expect industry players to give government data it can use against them.

What industry players will give Reyes are data that will work for their own interests. They are, after all, in the industry to do business. They are not going to do anything that will ruin that business.

No wonder that, despite world oil prices now at nearly $36 per barrel, and independent experts insisting there should now be a one-time big cut in pump prices by about P10 per liter, Reyes is happily going along with the refusal of oil companies to reflect the true situation.

Oil companies continue to retail their price cuts, chopping off a few centavos here and there every few weeks, holding on for as long as they can to their profit margins, knowing the government will just go along with however they are going to explain the situation.

If Reyes truly knew the situation and did not depend on what the self-serving industry players will provide him, the public could have fairly expected the government to start cracking the whip long ago. Playing blind is truly a darned thing.