Cebu gov’t sues ‘Big 3’ oil firms for overpricing

The provincial government of Cebu yesterday slapped a complaint against the so-called “Big Three” oil companies with the Department of Justice (DoJ)-Department of Energy (DoE) joint task force and at the same time sought an investigation into the firms’ pricing of their petroleum products in the province after the provincial government allegedly found out that the companies have been imposing prices in Cebu at P5-P8 more than on any area in the entire country.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, along with groups of businessmen based in the province, came to Manila to file the complaint, accusing Petron, Shell and Chevron (formerly Caltex) of violating Republic Act 8479, otherwise known as the Oil Deregulation Law, for allegedly charging higher prices in Cebu.

The filing of the suit came after Garcia called a meeting Monday with representatives of the three oil “giants” and other concerned sectors in the province where she asked the oil firms to explain the substantial discrepancy in the selling price of their petroleum products in Cebu and all other areas in the country.

She said she was not satisfied with the firms’ explanations and was prompted to file the complaint before the DoJ-DoE Joint Task Force.

Garcia and her co-complainants particularly said Petron, Shell and Chevron, cannot give as reason the distance of Cebu from Manila for exacting a higher price of oil products in the province because even the firms’ prices of petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), were cheaper in Mindanao than in Cebu.

They also dismissed the explanation given by the three leading players in the oil industry that, like in Metro Manila, the “competition is stiffer” in Mindanao compared with that in Cebu, hence their prices tended to be lower in the South.

“So it seems that there is really a huge discrepancy and injustice being committed by the Big Three against the people of Cebu…I am indignant, that is precisely why I came all the way here (in Manila to file the complaint). I am very disappointed at these three oil companies, for their committing of this injustice to Cebuanos. This affects all of us (in Cebu), specially (those who have) low income. I cannot allow this to continue,” Garcia said, as she and her co-complainants urged the DoJ-DoE task force to conduct a probe into the matter.

“Republic Act 8479 provides for avenues by which consumers may seek redress, and we are really standing up for this,” she stressed.

The meeting on Monday, which was held at the session hall of the old capitol in Cebu, was attended by officials of the three oil giants, the Philippine Exporters Confederation, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., the Mandaue (City) Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Mactan Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce-Cebu. Members of these business groups were the ones who joined in filing the suit with the provincial government of Cebu.

Garcia called the meeting after business groups in the province raised the matter of the alleged overpricing of oil products in Cebu during a Cabinet meeting held by President Arroyo last week.

During the meeting, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry presented a comparative study of the actual pump prices of petroleum products in the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo and Metro Manila. It showed fuel prices in Cebu were higher by an average of P4.83 per liter than in Metro Manila. It was also pointed out that the prices of LPG in Cebu were higher than in other key cities of the country. –Daily Tribune with PNA