August 6, 2019 | 10:01 pm
THE Department of Energy (DoE) will
continue to find ways to keep consumers informed about what goes into the
prices of petroleum products, its top official said Tuesday, after a court
blocked the agency’s circular that it hoped would provide greater transparency.
“I’m not happy,” DoE Secretary
Alfonso G. Cusi told reporters after the release of the writ of preliminary
injunction issued by Branch 213 of the Regional Trial Court of Mandaluyong City
that sided with petitioner Petron Corp.
He said the other ways for the DoE
to determine the pricing of fuel products would include the importation of
petroleum by a unit of state-led Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) or the
company itself.
Last year, PNOC Exploration Corp.
(PNOC-EC), the company’s energy exploration arm, embarked on a plan to import
diesel from non-traditional foreign markets. The move has so far failed to
materialize.
“Whether it’s PNOC [mother company]
or PNOC-EC, it doesn’t matter,” he said, calling the initiative a “work in
process” that was never dropped by the agency. Mr. Cusi chairs PNOC by virtue
of his position as Energy secretary.
The court decision enjoined Mr.
Cusi, who was respondent in the case in his capacity as DoE secretary, from
implementing and enforcing Department Circular No. DC2019-005-008.
It said “if the implementation of
the assailed circular is not restrained in the meantime, the petitioner might
not be able to comply with its requirements, the first of which is the
submission of the weekly reports.”
“At the same time, the petitioner
might be placed at risk of losing its trade secrets and incur irreparable
injury by disclosing such information to respondent DoE. The petitioner and its
officers may be subjected to criminal prosecution and the administrative
penalties mentioned in the circular for compliance with the same,” it said.
The circular requires persons or
entities involved in the sale of petroleum products such as gasoline,
automotive and industrial diesel, kerosene, jet fuel and aviation gas,
household and automotive liquefied petroleum gas to file an annual or special
report, or both, in such form as the DoE secretary may prescribe.
The circular, which has yet to be
implemented, calls for oil companies to first notify the DoE of any adjustment
in the prices of petroleum products before imposing any price adjustments.
The court said it found “clear and
unmistakable right” to provisional relief sought by the petitioner to prevent
the DoE from implementing the circular. — Victor V. Saulon
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