August 30, 2018 | 9:50 pm
THE Department of Energy (DoE) has
promised to review a recent order directing oil companies to offer diesel fuel
compliant with the Euro 2 emissions standard as an inflation-control measure,
after opposition to the order surfaced at a Congressional hearing.
Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos told
reporters on Thursday that the department will conduct more extensive
consultations.
“We will review it, and we will
consult the public; the consuming public (and) the industry players,” he said.
He added, “We’ll be coming up (with
a new order).
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian called
for the circular’s cancellation at a hearing by the Oversight Committee on
Biofuels, which he chairs.
He added, “No doubt that the
intention is noble but there are unintended consequences.”
The DoE issued Department Order No.
DO2018-08-0012 or “Directing the Philippine Downstream Oil Industry to Offer
Euro 2 Compliant Diesel as a Fuel Option for the Transport and Industry Sector”
on Aug. 10.
The order cites the need “to
reduc(e) the impact of rising petroleum prices in the world market” and directs
“all industry players… to provide Euro 2 compliant automotive diesel oil at the
retail level as a fuel option for transport and industrial customers.”
In 2015, the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) pushed for the adoption of the Euro 4
emissions standard. This year, DENR requires all new registered vehicles to be
equipped with Euro 4 compliant engines.
Marinduque Representative and
committee co-chairman Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco said, “It is our role to
lighten the burden of the Filipino public but our foremost concern should be
effectively and sustainably lightening this burden.”
Philippine Institute of Petroleum
(PIP) Executive Director Teddy M. Reyes said that bringing in Euro 2 fuels will
add to the fuel companies’ costs, mainly in distribution, and in particular
buying more tankers to separately transport the Euro 2 fuel.
Euro 2 also allows higher sulfur
content of 500 parts per million (ppm), as opposed to the Euro 4 cap of 50 ppm.
“The health of the nation may be
compromised by the illnesses due to exposure to contaminated air,” Department
of Health (DoH) Environmental and Occupational Health Officer Luis F. Cruz
said. He added that being exposed to levels of sulfur puts people at risk for
respiratory diseases.
For his part, The Philippine
Biodiesel Association (TPBA) President and operations Manager Dean Ang Lao said
the risks that come with bringing in Euro 2 are not worth it.
“For a temporary measure, I feel it
requires the deployment of too much resources for little impact. There are
other ways of reducing costs,” Mr. Lao said. — Gillian M. Cortez
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