Labor rep demands “big 3” for swift rollback on oil price

Trade Union Congress Party-List (TUCP) Representative Raymond D. C. Mendoza yesterday called on Pilipinas Shell, Chevron Philippines Inc. and Petron Corp. for a swift rollback on its oil price following Unioil’s biggest price-cut of P4.75 per liter of gasoline by 2:01 p.m. on Monday.

Unioil, a small player in the industry also reduced its prices for diesel by P3.50 and Kerosene by P1.50 per liter. The company has been setting trend for swift rollbacks since last year.

Rep. Mendoza has challenged the “Big 3” oil companies to double Unioil’s price rollback. “If a small player such as Unioil can offer drastic price rollbacks, why can’t the major players offer the same?” the solon lamented.

“In no small terms, the Big 3 are making more than enough money for a sweeping rollback on oil price which the public is in dire need,” the labor leader explained.

Mendoza added that a one peso plus adjustment is unacceptable as compared to the P4.75 per liter that Unioil did. “They are well-established and they have their fare share of a huge chunk of the market and it is high time they start giving back to the Filipino people to whom they owe their business,” he said.

The labor leader noted that the soaring oil price adds up to the burden of low minimum wage, high cost of basic commodities, housing, inadequate healthcare and education. “These are too much of a trouble for a worker who earns P385 or less a day.”

“The government has roughly responded to our workers’ need for efficient basic social services. And if we can not urge the big players to do a Unioil now, our workers will have to toil themselves in the miseries of an indecent living that we provide them for,” the solon elaborated.