These giant oil companies should be charged, their executives hauled to jail and their operations seized by government. They think that the Filipinos are easily fooled by their PR machinery. They think that getting the headlines of the Philippine Daily Inquirer would be enough pressure for this government to back down on the fight.
And I pity the PDI for allowing themselves to be used as the main speaking platform of these oil companies. How many millions of pesos worth of advertising space did these oil giants pay you, Mr. Inquirer? I thought the PDI sides with the people? IMagine, instead of releasing Santiago's report on the monumental corruption on the Road User's Tax (which I think deserves the headline), the PDI instead bannered or headlined the alleged "only two weeks supply" of the oil firms.
Crap. Bull. Katarantaduhan!
E.O. 839 is one of those singular acts of Mrs. Arroyo that deserves praise. Curiously though, Mrs. Arroyo allows her Energy secretary Angelo Reyes to play footsie and acts as the oil industry's main spokesperson and poster boy. It seems that government is playing both sides---Reyes, mouthing platitudes and portraying the role of the doomsday boy, while Justice secretary Agnes Devenadera leading the charge for the oil companies' prosecution. Who really speaks for and on behalf of Mrs. Arroyo?
Oil companies have been using the Inquirer to scare us and make us believe that there would be a shortage. These companies claim that their supplies will only last two weeks. And they position themselves as the only ones who can import oil products.
Under the Constitution and our laws, government can very well seize the assets of these oil firms and do the importing of oil products themselves. And I dare Malacanang to do such a thing. Let's put a stop to the "ka oil lulan" (kaululan) of these oil giants and "small" players who form this cartel, smash them to smithereens, and let government do its primary job of protecting the interests of the Filipino People.
Who will believe that these oil giants are "hurting" and "losing money"? EO 839 is just two weeks old. Imagine, oil companies claim they already lost 18 billion pesos worth of income. Yun naman pala. The truth is, they earn 18 billion pesos for just a week of operation.
If these companies would not import oil for fears of losing more money, let government seize all their assets, especially their refineries under the name of the State and let the People support them. Mrs. Arroyo can designate an energy czar or czarina or be the czarina herself and run the entire oil industry. Mrs. Arroyo can very well do this because we are still under a state of calamity.
Likewise, jail this LPGMA head who violated the EO by allowing his members to raise LPG prices by as much as 30 pesos. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail for violating not just our laws but making a mockery out of our government.
Who do these oil players and LPG dealers think they are, more powerful than the State?
This tug of war between Malacanang and the oil players is a test of Executive Power. It is also a power struggle between unscrupulous members of Private Enterprise and the State. Who wins in the end is a matter of Leadership. Mrs. Arroyo should show her mettle in this. And she deserves the People's support.
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