|
The Senate is doing its over sight functions by investigating the
officials involved in the Philippine National Police Moscow euro
scandal and fertilizer-fund scam. But to ordinary people, Senator
Juan Ponce-Enrile’s moves to look into fluctuations of oil prices
must be more important.
Enrile’s plan to call representatives of oil
firms to a hearing is based on his analysis that the prices of oil
and other energy products in the Philippines have not kept pace with
the drop in prices of those products in the world market. The fact
that the local prices do not jibe with lower world prices can only
mean that oil deregulation does not work.
In July, when oil prices were at its peak, oil
companies purchased crude oil at P6,244 per barrel which, based on
the foreign exchange rate of P44.60 to $1, was equal to $140. Now,
it sells at P2,657 per barrel which, based on the foreign exchange
rate of P48.30 to $1 is equal to $54.51.
“The Mean of Platts Singapore [MOPS], which
serves as the basis of prices of imported refined petroleum product,
indicates that Singapore’s diesel and regular fuel oil prices have
dropped by 56 percent and 63 percent, respectively. However,
our domestic prices, dropped by a mere P18 [or by 31 percent] for
diesel and by P 12 [or by 26 percent] for regular fuel oil,
respectively, Enrile said.”
The price of LPG has also dropped significantly
from $804 per metric ton last month to between $314 and $490 per
metric ton. The price of LPG in Philippine market is at a level
that could still be cut by as much as P191, for an 11-kilo tank,
according to Enrile.
“The Cagayan solon also wonder why that
there is very little adjustment when the Singapore marine gas oil
[MGO], which is also equivalent to local diesel, and IFO 180, the
equivalent of our local regular fuel oil, went down by 56 percent
and by 63 percent. On the other hand, the decrease of prices in
these products in the Philippines is nowhere near that of
Singapore’s figures,” Enrile said.
These are all valid points that should be asked
of the oil firms in an open Senate hearing. These are the questions
that the people want to hear in televised hearings that oftentimes
focus purely on oversight functions. The Senate should help the
people with their problems, and not focus purely on headline
stories.
After the Senate investigates the oil firms, it
should also go on investigating the real impact of the financial
crisis on our economy. These are the kinds of topics that make the
Senate closer to the people, more than the hearings that only expose
how some senators expose their lack of preparation for hearings.
___
Meeting in
Washington of G-20
We have read the communiqué of the 20 rich
countries, which met in Washington over the weekend to fix the
financial crisis that recently hit the world. My conclusion is that
the solutions are tentative.
In the first place, the meeting does not include
the most important player in the G-20 and that is President-elect
Barack Obama. What do you expect of a meeting that is presided over
and hosted by President Bush who is seen as the cause of this
financial crisis?
If one looks at the conclusions, note that the
analysis of the roots of the crisis was wrong. It never mentioned
the sub-prime crisis which everybody, including the US Congress,
says caused the meltdown. It seems that that those who wrote the
communiqué didn’t want to offend President Bush.
The real main really about the financial crisis
is whether the world will simply fix the financial system or
dismantle the Bretton Woods Agreement. British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown, including many in Europe, want a discussion on Bretton Woods.
But it seems that many of the delegates don’t want to offend Bush.
Those pushing for a more radical proposal will probably want to wait
for Obama to take office before making any longterm solutions.
___
BRIEF NOTES. How much did Filipinos lose in
the recent collapse of the Lehman Brothers? That is the topic most
talked about in coffee shops . . . The beauty doctor Vicky Belo lost
a lot, saying “because of Lehman Brothers collapse, I lost a lot
of stock. I’m so sunog. I lost more than half of what I have,”
she said in an interview with another paper . . . A woman politician
in Quezon City has reportedly lost big due to Lehman’s . . . I
thought that the quarrel between Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago
and DILG Chief Ronaldo Puno which came during the Erap presidency
has ended. But it has reemerged in the investigation of the euro
generals. Then and now, Senator Panfilo Lacson is allied with Miriam
in this quarrel . . . Presidential adviser for climate change
Heherson Alvarez will be attending a conference in Poland next month
to read the RP position on global warming . . .
jules42na@yahoo.com
|
