Task force suggests lifting of EO

A government task force has recommended the lifting of the controversial Executive Order 839 to President Gloria Arroyo, acting Justice Sec. Agnes Devanadera announced on Thursday. Devanadera said that the recommendation came after the Joint Department of Energy-Department of Justice (DOE-DOJ) Task Force on Oil Deregulation received on Wednesday night the assessment report from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), which lifted the state of calamity in Luzon.

“There is no need anymore for the oil price freeze,” Devanadera said, adding that the ball is now with President Arroyo.

But also on Thursday, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita acknowledged the recommendation, but he added that the President has yet to lift the Executive Order.

President Arroyo issued Executive Order 839 following the onslaught of tropical storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng that killed more than a 1,000 people and destroyed billions of pesos worth of crops, infrastructure and private property. The order effectively rolled back prices of basic goods, including fuel, to their October 15 levels.

The task force’s move to recommend the lifting of Executive Order 839 comes after a series of consultations with oil firms, which had warned of supply shortages if the order was not lifted.

Earlier on Wednesday, Devanadera announced that the task force and the oil firms have agreed in principle on selective price controls. The Executive Order would be lifted in areas that have already recovered from the recent calamities, and discount coupon would be issued in areas still reeling from the storms.

“They [oil firms] submitted a list of discounts on prices of various oil products,” she said.

Debate on oil prices

In a related development, Energy Sec. Angelo Reyes chided Ralph Recto, former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general, for practicing “voodoo economics.” The point of Reyes was that oil prices were not overpriced by P8 a liter as earlier alleged by Recto.

“He [Recto] could not explain where he got the P8. And I now have a statement from the current NEDA director general,” Reyes said in a recent press conference.

Reyes was referring to a memorandum sent to Malacañang by Augusto Santos, who took over from Recto, dismissing as baseless the claim that fuel prices were overpriced.

But Reyes has some doubters of his own.

Sen. Joker Arroyo said also on Thursday that government should inspect the oil firms’ depot to verify the earlier statement of Reyes that fuel supply was down to about two-weeks worth.

The government should close the oil depots in Pandacan, which could hold about 100 days of reserves, if it the claims on nearly depleted supplies were true, the senator added.

“The government should confront the oil firms on how much oil reserves are in Pandacan,” he added. “If there is oil, then the oil firms are fooling the government. If there is no oil, then let them remove the oil depots. They have become useless.”

Sen. Arroyo noted that the oil firms had lost a court case against the Manila City government on their eviction from the Pandacan depot—but they are still there.

He said that oil supply has military and national security implications. He contended that there was no government in the world that allows oil reserves to fall as low as Reyes has claimed. –WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL REPORTER WITH REPORTS FROM ANGELO S. SAMONTE, EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO AND EFREN L. DANAO, Manila Times