Bukid Apo: DOE, DOJ have enough powers to thwart oil pricing abuses

Sunday, May 1, 2011

DOE, DOJ have enough powers to thwart oil pricing abuses

NEWS RELEASE
Rep. Elpidio F. Barzaga Jr. (Lone district of Dasmariñas City, Cavite)

Suite 402 RVMB, House of Representatives Tel. 951-8881

May 1, 2011

DOE, DOJ have enough powers to thwart oil pricing abuses, says solon
The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have ample powers to suppress possible pricing abuses by oil industry players, Dasmariñas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said.

“The Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Law of 1998, or Republic Act 8479 did not render the DOE and the DOJ toothless in protecting consumers against any excessive and unwarranted increases in the prices of petroleum products,” Barzaga said.

He said the DOE-DOJ Task Force under the law was installed precisely to enable regulators to rein in potential price gouging and other unfair trade practices by the oil firms.

“In fact, we have an entire chapter in the law devoted to anti-trust safeguards, prohibited acts, and remedies. We also have another chapter granting the Secretary of Energy additional surveillance and enforcement powers to ensure a competitive free market and fair pricing,” Barzaga said.

In particular, Barzaga cited Section 14 (d) of the law, which mandates the DOE-DOJ Task Force to investigate on its own, even without any complaint, any unreasonable rise in the prices of petroleum products and/or file the necessary legal action with the proper court or agency.

He said that under the law, the DOE-DOJ Task Force is also duty-bound to act within 30 days on any report from any person of an unreasonable rise in pump prices.

He likewise cited Section 15 (b), which empowers the Secretary of Energy to order any person and require the latter to file reports or respond to specific questions, under oath, on any matter the Secretary may want regarding the oil industry.

Barzaga made the statement shortly after Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. categorically rejected calls for the repeal of the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Law.

“We went through a long process of finally deregulating the industry, and that was the right move. Scrapping it or changing it from deregulation to regulation is something that requires a lot of talks. I am not in favor of it,” Belmonte said.

“The sound fundamentals (of a deregulated environment) are still there, and it just so happened that you have all these things happening in oil producing countries,” he said.

Belmonte attributed the recent surge in pump prices to the lingering political turmoil in oil-producing nations.

“We had something like this in the past, and they were not permanent situations,” he added.

Barzaga, meanwhile, welcomed Malacañang’s plan to increase to more than P1 billion the money earmarked for fuel subsidies to the transport sector.

“The direct subsidies will be helpful to public transport and other vulnerable sectors,” Barzaga said.

The Palace said the incremental funding would cover the assistance to fishermen and farmers and the possible extension of the subsidy period to more than a month.

President Benigno Aquino III previously ordered the release of P450 million for a month-long fuel discount to the 214,569 jeepney drivers nationwide.
The subsidy is meant to keep transport costs down amid the surge in the prices of gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products.

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From The Times November 28, 2009 Philippines massacre: women thought they were safe. They were wrong Romy Elusfa in Ampatuan and Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor He knew that powerful and ruthless people wanted him dead and that he was risking everything by standing for election — but to one practical challenge at least, Ismael Mangudadatu thought he had a solution. If he went in person to register as a candidate he would be inviting an attack by his enemies — the Ampatuan clan who have a near-monopoly on elected posts in the region. Instead, after consultation with his family and advisers, Mr Mangudadatu decided to send his wife and two sisters. The local police refused to provide an escort and the Philippines Army declined a request for protection. But how much harm could befall a group of women? For good measure, the two family lawyers who were women and Mr Mangudadatu’s aunt — who was pregnant, like one of his sisters — went along for the ride with other supporters and relatives. As a further safeguard, 27 journalists were invited. “Under our tradition, Muslim women are respected,” Mr Mangudadatu said. “They should not be harmed, just like innocent children and the elders. They will not harm us if journalists are watching.” Related Links Philippines leader 'shot massacre victims' Philippines massacre suspect arrested At 9.30am on Monday six minibuses began the drive from the town of Buluan to the provincial capital of Shariff Aguak. “This is women power in action,” Eden, Mr Mangudadatu’s sister, was heard to say. “Let’s help our men chart a better future for the province.” Within hours, she and her companions were dead. They had been bound, macheted, shot and buried in a mass grave. It is believed that some were raped. Political killings have been a part of life for centuries in the Philippines, and the southern island of Mindanao is the most violent of all. The attack, in which 57 people were killed, has raised questions about the relationship between the gangster clans such as the Ampatuan family and the highest levels of the Philippines metropolitan elite. Yesterday Andal Ampatuan Jr, the son of one of the most powerful men in Mindanao, was charged with seven counts of murder. “He was the one who gave the instructions,” Agnes Devanadera, the Justice Minister, said. “He was among those ... who killed the victims.” Until they were expelled this week, Mr Ampatuan and his father were important members of the ruling party of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the President. Her Government has also moved against members of its security forces suspected of being complicit in the violence. According to the national police chief, Jesus Verzosa, six senior officers, including the provincial chief and his deputy, twenty officers of the Ampatuan police station and about four hunded members of a militia loyal to the Ampatuan family are in custody. Many Filipinos remain sceptical about the prospects for improvement. “He [Ampatuan Jr] can be a sacrificial mouse to spare the leopards behind the crime,” one Maguindanao man told The Times. “The most powerful people among the Ampatuans are still in government.” Three journalists survived the attack because they stopped at their hotel when the convoy was setting out. “The lady at the front desk told us that a motorcycle-riding man armed with a pistol came to ask for the names of journalists who checked in at the hotel,” said Aquiles Zonio, of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. They tried calling colleagues, but the hold-up had already taken place. The convoy was stopped about an hour into its journey, near the town that bears the Ampatuan family name. Some victims were able to send texts reporting that they had been stopped by about a hundred armed men. Police Chief Superintendent Felicisimo Khu said: “Twenty-four corpses were all killed by a firing squad. They were buried in six layers. Every layer is covered with earth, making it more difficult for the retrieval operations. I have asked myself why one of them has no underwear.” Ms Devanadera said: “Even the private parts of the women were shot at. It was done practically to all the women. All the women had their zippers undone. The pants of some were pulled down. We have yet to determine whether they were raped.” According to Mr Khu, the gunmen intercepted two vehicles with six people who happened to be travelling on the same road at the same time, and killed them too. “Some sustained multiple gunshot wounds — as many as eight,” said Benito Molina, a forensic examiner at the scene. “To judge from the blood, some of the corpses may have been buried while still alive.” Cooking pots belonging to the killers were found at the scene and they had taken with them a mechanical digger bearing the name of the local government. Its engine was still running when soldiers arrived. The brutality appears to have backfired on the Ampatuan clan: the intensity of public anger will ensure that no politician in Manila will court their friendship publicly in the election in May. It is little compensation for the loss of his family, but Mr Mangudadatu’s election prospects have been strengthened. “Only death can stop me from running,” he said yesterday when he filed his candidature for the regional governorship of Maguindanao, which is held by the brother of Mr Ampatuan Jr. “This symbolises our freedom. I hope this will be the start of our liberation.” The scale of the massacre may be unique, but its story — of violence, clans and corruption — is repeated across the Philippines. Father Eduardo Vasquez, a priest in Shariff Aguak, said: “If powerful and equally armed families like the Mangudadatus were killed in such a barbaric manner, how much more for the ordinary civilians who have already been traumatised by the war?” Clan power Andal Ampatuan Sr has four wives and thirty children. He has a private army of several hundred, permitted under a presidential executive order His extended family dominates the region’s politics. One son, Zaldy, is governor of the Muslim Mindanao The provincial capital Maganoy was renamed Shariff Aguak after Mr Ampatuan’s late father One of his sons and a nephew are its mayor and vice-mayor

Bukid Apo

Sunday, May 1, 2011

DOE, DOJ have enough powers to thwart oil pricing abuses

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