May 24, 2018 | By MYRNA VELASCO
The Department of Energy (DoE) has
asked oil companies to grant another round of price discounts for public
transport.
This was confirmed yesterday by DoE
Assistant Director Rodela Romero.
Romero said the target is for higher
discounts in pump prices for public utility vehicles – from what was initially
enforced at R1.00 per liter on March 1, the period when excise taxes under the
Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act had been implemented full
swing.
“We are requesting them (oil
companies) to expand or increase the number of stations offering discounts,”
Romero said.
She noted that the targeted amount
is not fixed this time, but the energy department is eyeing that discount rates
will be set higher from where they are at currently.
The energy official added that other
form of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, especially for the
public transport segment and other marginalized sectors equally affected by
soaring oil prices, will be inordinately encouraged.
DoE Assistant Secretary Leonido
Pulido III further qualified that the meeting with the oil companies this week,
“was to discuss how we could help consumers with the increasing international
oil prices.”
Yesterday, the DoE’s Oil Industry
Management Bureau (OIMB) also made its rounds at oil firm stations to
countercheck if there are some players who have been taking advantage of the
situation.
In March, three oil companies –
Petron Corporation, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, and Phoenix
Petroleum Philippines Inc. – formally committed to the energy department on the
“price discount program” for the transport sector. This was sealed then through
a memorandum of agreement they signed with Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
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