Senate President Win Gatchalian is pushing for stronger government oversight of fuel prices to protect consumers from unreasonable pump costs under the country’s deregulated oil industry.
Gatchalian said deregulation should not weaken public safeguards, stressing that fuel prices must remain fair, transparent, and properly justified.
He said the government should closely monitor the acquisition costs of imported fuel by oil companies to determine whether local pump prices reflect actual market conditions.
Gatchalian made the statement during a recent hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy on his proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 8479, or the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act, under Senate Bill No. 641.
“While the law was intended to attract private investments, deregulation should not leave consumers vulnerable to excessive pricing,” Gatchalian said.
“We need to strike a delicate balance. On one hand, we want private companies to invest but we also can’t allow them to make unabated profits,” he added.
Senate Bill No. 641 seeks to require oil companies to disclose the actual cost components of their retail fuel prices whenever the average Dubai crude oil price, based on Mean of Platts Singapore, reaches or exceeds $80 per barrel.
Gatchalian said the proposed measure aims to give the government better tools to assess fuel pricing and ensure that consumers are not burdened by unjustified increases.