Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian is pushing for a measure to unbundle petroleum product retail prices to expose oil companies' true profit margins, while supporting a windfall tax to curb profiteering amid the global oil crisis.
In Manila, Philippines, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian is advocating for legislation to itemize components of petroleum product retail prices, addressing the government's lack of visibility into oil companies' pricing under the current Oil Deregulation Law. Inventory costs and profit margins remain shielded as corporate trade secrets, allowing firms to potentially buy cheap stock and sell at inflated prices during the crisis, as he told radio dzBB yesterday: “That’s taking advantage of the situation, and we must have visibility into the prices.” He filed a bill last year to force companies to disclose these details, calling it “unbundling,” similar to electricity bills that list generation, transmission, and distribution charges separately. “I call it unbundling. The prices must be unbundled so that the government knows how much they bought,” he explained. Despite his firm stance against profiteering, Gatchalian opposes fully repealing the Oil Deregulation Law, citing the state's past inefficiency in managing the oil business. “The private sector is more efficient in running businesses, but in these situations where they could take advantage, the government must have teeth and eyes,” he argued. Due to potential massive margins, he wants the Philippines to follow the United Kingdom's example of imposing a windfall profit tax on the oil industry. Additionally, he expressed “conceptual support” for a wealth tax on the country's billionaires, noting administrative challenges from offshore holdings and foreign jurisdictions.
