Senate Committee on Energy Chairman Senator Erwin Tulfo reaffirmed his commitment on Sunday, August 30, to overhaul the country’s outdated Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act to require full pricing transparency from fuel distributors.
Addressing enduring complaints from the public—particularly within the public transport sector—Tulfo emphasized that market prices frequently jump without notice, whereas price reductions remain negligible.
“The oil companies will just say ‘tomorrow, we will increase the prices by 5 pesos per liter,’ then we will have no choice but to pay,” Tulfo observed.
“What we will do is we will strengthen the powers of the Department of Energy (DOE) over these companies. No more arbitrary price shocks—they will have to explain why they increase their prices in a certain way,” he highlighted.
Drawing parallels between the current oil deregulation framework and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), the lawmaker criticized both policies for placing an unfair burden on everyday consumers.
“Because of these outdated laws, system losses are being charged to the consumer,” he stated.
“Electric companies are well-aware that they need to upgrade their systems, but they just let them deteriorate because they can easily charge those loss fees to the public,” Tulfo noted.
While critics contend that statutory changes may only result in minor per-liter relief, Tulfo asserted that any financial relief remains crucial for Filipino households facing ongoing inflationary pressures.
“What matters is the principle. You cannot just sit idly and let the ordinary Filipinos pay for services that they did not benefit from, or pay fuel without understanding how it was priced,” he concluded.