A MILITANT transport group warns Thursday it will launch a "transport holiday" and protest actions if Malacanang succumbed to pressure from oil companies and recall the implementation of Executive Order 839.

"We are ready to launch protest once EO 839 will be lifted and the President listens to Albay Governor Joey Salceda," said George San Mateo, secretary general of the Pinag-Isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide (Piston).

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On Thursday morning, members of the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations (Acto) headed by Efren De Luna picketed the office of the Big 3 oil firms - Pilipinas Shell, Chevron and Petron - in Makati.

They denounced what they said is their insensitivity to the plight of the ordinary people who have yet to fully recover from the devastation of the recent calamities that struck the country.

Instead of lifting the price cap on petroleum products, San Mateo said the government should even implement the same measure nationwide as it is not only Luzon that was ravaged by the recent typhoons.

"They should expand the scope of EO 839 to Visayas and Mindanao where at present P7 to P9 is the difference as compared to Metro Manila" he added.

The transport group leader said the government should also work for the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law, adding that it has failed to live up to the spirits envisioned by its proponents when it was passed into a law in 1997.

Earlier, Governor Salceda said the price cap must be lifted because it was benefiting only the rich while the government was losing more than P4.5 billion in potential taxes.

"Contrary to the common notion, the oil price freeze disproportionately benefits the wealthy families of Forbes, Magallanes and Urdaneta over the welfare of and at the expense of the informal settlers in Tondo, Payatas and Lupang Arenda," he said.

"The lower 45-percent income class who earn less than P100, 000 annually consumes only 18 percent of the total expenditures on fuel, light and water, and a measly 10 percent of the total expenditures on transportation and communications," the governor further said.

At the same time, Salceda said that instead of the price freeze, the government should ensure that public utility vehicle (PUV) operators and drivers get discounts from oil stations.

But San Mateo said the governor's proposal would not uplift the lives of the poor PUV operators and drivers who are still reeling from the devastation brought by the recent typhoons and the high petroleum prices and skyrocketing cost of spare parts.

Consultation meeting

Amid pressure from the business sector, Malacanang will review the implementation of EO 839 to partially lift the freeze on the prices of petroleum products in some areas in Luzon devastated by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said that oil companies, transport groups, as well as various chambers of commerce will again hold another consultation meeting with the Department of Justice-Department of Energy (DOJ-DOE) Task Force On Oil Deregulation next week in Malacanang to discuss the possible modification of EO 839, considering its impact on the business sector.

She added that the purpose of the consultation meeting is to consolidate all proposals and evaluate them before coming out with new mechanisms on how to alleviate the suffering of those affected by these calamities.

Until such time, Devanadera said the implementation of the temporary freeze on oil prices would remain in effect.

The task force and the business groups would discuss whether the emergency situation that led to the implementation of EO 839 is still present or not.

"We have emphasized early on that this EO is only temporary. The possible lifting of the oil price freeze in some areas are all part and parcel of the original game plan," she told reporters. "Nothing is final yet. I don't want to say that there will be partial lifting of the executive order since proposals and ideas are still evolving."

Devanadera pointed out that even the members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) were supportive of the imposition of EO 839 after she reminded them that it was just temporary.

The assessment and recommendation of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) would be given much weight in coming up with a decision on whether to lift, modify or adopt new measures to help the typhoon victims.

"Both camps are now crafting some proposals to take cake of a response to this calamity.... It may come in different forms but what is important is we were able to address the clamor of the victims for assistance," she said.

Devanadera admitted that one of the common proposals from the business sector is to limit the imposition of the price-freeze directive in selected areas in Luzon that were badly devastated by the typhoons.

Earlier, the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) sought a clear date for the termination of the implementation of EO 839 citing the uncertainty generated by the measure's "open-ended nature."

Malacanang however said the fate of EO 839 would depend on the DOJ-DOE task force's recommendation that is expected to be submitted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo very soon. (AH/JCV/Sunnex)