A special Senate committee will investigate possible collusion among oil companies to raise prices at the start of the Middle East war. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian welcomed the Department of Energy's move to probe cartelization. Sen. JV Ejercito urged the administration to use emergency powers.
The Senate formed an ad hoc PROTECT committee to address the oil crisis and will launch an investigation into possible collusion among oil firms to hike prices at the Middle East war's outset. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy committee, welcomed Department of Energy Secretary Sharon Garin's request for the Philippine Competition Commission to probe cartelization and profiteering.
"It’s good that there is formal declaration that there is cartel-like behavior or possible collusion," Gatchalian said in Filipino. He noted simultaneous price increases at similar levels as a cartel indicator and plans to seek updates on non-Middle East supply deals and anti-profiteering measures. He criticized oil firms for selling old stocks at escalated replacement costs, insisting they should use old prices.
Meanwhile, Sen. JV Ejercito called on the Marcos administration to invoke emergency powers under section 14(e) of the Oil Deregulation Law to temporarily take over oil operations and impose price caps. "This should be imposed so that at least price hikes can be controlled by the government because there is national emergency," he told radio dwIZ. He suggested reviewing the law, as it limits the DOE to monitoring, amid complaints of quick hikes and slow rollbacks.