By Ronnel W. Domingo and Inquirer Southern Luzon
UNIOIL PETROLEUM PHILIPPINES Inc. yesterday slashed prices of gasoline by P6 a liter and of diesel by P4 a liter as it trailed other oil firms in previous rounds of price cuts.
Unioil said that as of 2 p.m. yesterday, its suggested retail price for diesel was P34.97 per liter; unleaded gasoline, P38.49; and premium gasoline, P38.99.
The Big 3 (Petron, Shell and Chevron) and other oil firms that have moved pump rates in sync in previous rounds are mum about changing their current prices.
The last time most of the oil companies cut prices was on Saturday. They reduced prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene by P1 per liter.
The cuts brought pump rates in Metro Manila of unleaded gasoline to between P36.07 and P41.51 a liter, diesel to between P34.97 and P38.17 a liter, and kerosene to between P41.80 and P47.49 a liter.
The Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston), which yesterday led a transport strike in the Bicol region, acknowledged the Unioil rollback but said the group was asking for a rollback by the Big 3.
“If the small players, like Unioil, are able to cut prices, why not the giant companies?” said George San Mateo, Piston national secretary general.
He said the slight increase in the price of oil in the world market to $51 a barrel on Wednesday was “negligible” and did not diminish his group’s resolve on a cutback of P8 a liter.
Classes were suspended in all schools and universities in Sorsogon and Albay yesterday because of the transport strike.
Flying V lambasted Unioil for “using media to sensationalize announcements with deceiving numbers to advance (its) image and credibility.”
Joey Cruz, Flying V vice president for retail network operations, said the company was still evaluating its next move. But should it again cut prices, it would be by as much as P3 a liter for gasoline.
“For this month, Flying V has already announced price cuts totaling P3 per liter for gasoline and P4 per liter for diesel,” Cruz said. “To match Unioil’s changes, we only need to deduct these figures from their announced levels.”
On Tuesday, Seaoil Petroleum Corp. cut prices by P2 a liter for gasoline and P1 a liter for diesel.
Dubai crude down
Data from the Department of Energy show that prices of the regional benchmark Dubai have gone down by about $80 per barrel after peaking at $131.27 in July.
The price of Dubai crude stood at $54 a barrel as of Nov. 17.
The price of unleaded gasoline based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), benchmark for refined petroleum products fell to $54 a barrel, while the price of diesel stood at $78 a barrel.
Amid an increasingly deteriorating economic outlook, world oil prices continue to decline as traders worry about weaker demand for energy.
Overcharging
In Bicol, public transport workers, who are clamoring for an P8 cutback in diesel and gasoline prices, urged President Macapagal-Arroyo to use her power to prevent the “Big 3” oil companies from overcharging the public.
“That is if the President is not conniving with the giant oil companies. Her tolerance of the overpricing can be considered a betrayal of public trust,” said San Mateo.
San Mateo said that, with the P8 overprice, the three oil companies were earning almost P48 million daily in profits from jeepney drivers and P29 million from tricycle drivers.
The estimates were derived by multiplying P8 with 30 liters, the normal daily consumption of a jeepney, and with 200,000, the total number of public utility jeepneys nationwide.
The same formula was used for tricycles, which normally consume five liters daily. There are at least 650,000 tricycles in the country.
Paralyzed
Public transport was virtually paralyzed in Albay and about 70 percent of public transport was halted in Sorsogon.
San Mateo claimed that 70 percent of vehicular traffic was paralyzed in Naga City and 90 percent in Iriga City.
No strike took place in Catanduanes while a transport caravan was held in Masbate. Figures were still being gathered in Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte provinces as of 11 a.m. yesterday.
Supt. Eliciar Bron, Bicol police spokesperson, said more than 10 government vehicles had been deployed to offer free rides to the public.
The PNP, Army, Air Force, Navy and local government units initiated a free-ride program.
Other drivers ply routes
In Sorsogon, the strike paralyzed the transport of passengers to the towns of Gubat, Juban, Magallanes, Irosin, Matnog and Bulan. But Mike Frayna, president of the Federated Association of Sorsogon Tricycle Operators and Drivers, said not all drivers joined the mass action.
Some drivers in other groups, who earlier said they would join the nationwide strike, did not do so and instead continued to fetch passengers.
Frayna particularly referred to Provincial Transport Alliance president Ding Bobis, who earlier said his group would lead the transport strike but was the “first” to continue carrying passengers bound for Legazpi City.
Bobis is one of the drivers of Filcab vans from Sorsogon to Legazpi.
Naga City officials said transport services continued unhampered even as members of Condor-Piston participated in the strike. They said a majority of the drivers from other transport groups continued plying their routes.
Lito del Rosario, chief of the Naga City Public Safety Office, said the overall situation of the transportation services in the city was normal as of early morning yesterday.
He announced that there was no need for the schools to suspend classes.
Short notice
Tyrone Jaucian, leader of the Federation of Trimobile Operators and Drivers in Naga Inc., complained that his group was not prepared to take part in the strike because it was informed at short notice.
Jaucian said the group only committed support to the strike.
Rafael Duque, president of the Federation of Transport Operators Drivers Association and Cooperatives (Fetrodaco), said nothing happened even as he committed on Tuesday the participation of his group in the regionwide strike.
Duque pledged that all the drivers and units of Fetrodaco, a province-wide transport organization, would stop plying their routes but cautioned that they could not guarantee a 100-percent transport paralysis because of the short notice.
Joel Ascutia, regional chair of the Concerned Drivers and Operators for Reform (Condor)-Piston, said Shell, Chevron and Petron should implement a one-time big rollback since oil prices in the world market had dropped significantly.
San Mateo said a transport caravan would proceed to Metro Manila on Nov. 28 and visit the main offices of the Big 3. With reports from Ephraim Aguilar, Roy Gersalia and Juan Escandor Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon
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