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BoC chief ordered to attend hearing on plaint vs oil firms

By Benjamin B. Pulta

11/26/2009

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales has been ordered by prosecutors to appear before the Department of Justice (DoJ) in connection with a pending complaint filed by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) against the “Big Three” oil firms.

Fuel prices in Cebu have gone up by at least P2 per liter since Oct. 15 when the government imposed a freeze on the oil prices in Luzon. The freeze, Executive Order 839, has since been lifted upon the recommendation of the Justice department.

The gap between Cebu and Metro Manila prices widened by more than P8.

In its order, the Department of Energy-Department of Justice Task Force (DoE-DoJ) directed Morales or his authorized representtive to attend the hearing scheduled on Dec. 7.

He was also ordered to bring with him the summary of importations and other documents in the custody of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) relating to the importation of diesel, unleaded gasoline and unrefined petroleum and the payment of duties made by Pilipinas Shell Petrolem Corp., Petron Corp. and Chevron Philippines in July and November of last year and in May of this year.

State Prosecutors George Yarte Jr., Diosdado Solidum Jr. and Associate Prosecuting Attorney Ira Jordana Gomez signed the order dated Nov. 24 of this year.

Cebu complainants pointed out that their monitoring showed that diesel in Metro Manila cost P28 per liter as of Oct. 27. But diesel in Cebu was sold at P38 per liter as of Oct. 28 or a price difference of P8.85.

For gasoline, a liter in Manila was sold at P36.41 but it cost P45.19 in Cebu or a difference of P8.78.

The complaint against the three big oil companies at the DoE-DoJ Task Force is for violation of the Downstreaming of the Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998 which penalizes cartelization and predatory pricing of petroleum products.

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