No missing you if you go

 It would have been interesting to find out who will eventually blink in the standoff between Shell and the Bureau of Customs. Here we see a company nourished into arrogance by oil dependence and an agency that is not exactly a paragon of honesty.

 The bone of contention is a whooping P7.3 billion in excise taxes that Customs says Shell failed to pay since 2004. Shell insists its imported raw materials are not subject to the taxes Customs wants to collect.

 To show it cannot be cowed, Customs says it will seize the gasoline shipments of Shell. To show it cannot be bullied, Shell is threatening to stop gasoline imports, in effect saying it may shut down operations. Unfortunately, while neither blinked, it was Malacañang who did.

 Malacañang has asked Customs to stop pursuing its intended action against Shell. For what the real reasons are, we do not know. But from where we sit, it looks like a huge sellout, again by Malacañang.

 The case is now before the courts, with the Court of Tax Appeals seemingly split down the middle on the issue. A temporary restraining order stopping Customs from seizing the shipments of Shell lapsed last Tuesday and Customs has gone through the motions of imposing the seizure.

 With such an issue clearly threatening to affect our daily lives, it should be expected that more court battles will ensue before Customs eventually gets what it claims is its due, or be forced to do what it has been threatening to.

 In the meantime, Shell is stepping on the gas to "conscience" everyone about the dire scenario that could ensue the moment an "insensitive" Customs presses on with its threat to seize Shell gasoline imports.

 In the scenario painted by Shell, many will lose jobs at gasoline stations that will be driven from business because of the shutdown. Power plants, factories, and the plain daily grind dependent on Shell supplies will grown to a halt, sending the economy and the nation into a spin.

 But before people panic and take the side of Shell against their own government, they must consider first and remember that Shell is not the only oil company operating today in the Philippines.

 There are the two other giants Petron and Caltex plus a whole host of other, smaller players. All of them are very much capable of taking up the slack where Shell may leave off. In fact, it would prove to be a tremendous business opportunity for these companies if Shell goes.

 Of course there will be some temporary inconveniences as heightened oil imports do not land on our shores with the flick of a switch. People will have to exercise patience and prudence until supplies stabilize. Once they do, there will hardly be any sentimental longings.

 The departure of one oil company, no matter how big, is not likely to be as disruptive as when the source of oil itself dries up, or when the oil cartel decides to cut back on production or otherwise use oil as a political bargaining chip again.

 Our problem with Shell, and with the other oil companies, is largely about distribution. For as long as the oil wells in the OPEC countries continue to gush forth with black gold, there will always be importers, refiners and distributors ready to jump in and do business.

 Frankly, it should have been time for government to assert itself against large companies that, by the nature of their businesses, are able to create a dependence people are not likely to be rid of without suffering dire consequences. But Malacañang seems to have other ideas.

 Such companies have feasted on such dependence, oblivious to complaints against abusive practices, like the one that made Cebu the most expensive place to buy gasoline in the country. Asked to explain, their big bosses merely ticked "transport costs" and raised prices even more.