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Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Militants call for repeal of Oil Deregulation Law
By Bobby S. Terencio
THE militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and its allied organizations renewed its call for the repeal the Oil Deregulation Law.
"It has long been the call of Bayan and different progressive organizations to repeal the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998," Ronan Ulanday, Bayan-Socsksargen secretary-general said.
Ulanday said the law has given oil companies a free hand in increasing the prices of oil products at their whims "without government intervention."
"Under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, prices of oil products have increased around 14 times already, but workers' wages have never increased," Ulanday added.
"Kining padayong pag-taas sa presyo sa langis, ang mayoryang hinungdan niini mao ang Oil Deregulation Law (The major reason for these continued increases in fuel prices is the Oil Deregulation Law)," Roy Sande, Tires spokesperson also said.
Sande claimed lawmakers such as Juan Ponce Enrile and Manuel Villar at one time called for the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law because of its ill effects to the economy.
"Pero ang Bayan ug ang mga alyadong organisasyon niini wala mihunong sa panawagan nga kini ipabasura, tungod ang epekto niini mao ang grabeng krisis sa atong ekonomiya, ilabi na sa mga ubos nga sektor sa katilingban (But Bayan and its allied organization have not stopped in calling for the repeal of this law because it resulted to economic crisis)," Sande said.
The group said the Oil Deregulation Law was passed during the term of then President Fidel Ramos to meet the conditions imposed by international financial institutions as the country secured more loans.
They said the law is one of the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund-World Bank (IMF-WB) in exchange for more loans to the Ramos administration.
The privatization of the energy sector is also part of the said deal according to the group, citing the sale of some subsidiaries of National Power Corporation (Napocor) and the government's shares in Petron Corporation to private companies.
The militants are scheduled to hold a picket-rally Tuesday at the public market to push for the repeal of Oil Deregulation Law.
They vowed to spearhead more protest actions until the government heeds their demand.
(June 23, 2004 issue)
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