THE rising oil prices will affect electricity rates, but Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi assured that the government is undertaking measures to cushion its impact on the public.
Cusi, who attended Sunday, May 27, the 46th Annual General Membership Assembly of Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) in Manapla, noted that a lot of power generating plants in the country use diesel fuel.
"But the government is looking for solutions to the problem. President Rodrigo Duterte is very sensitive to the needs and welfare of the people so he ordered to closely monitor the fuel prices and make sure that our supply in the country will not be affected," Cusi said.
One of the steps that the government is doing is that the Department of Energy has commissioned PNOC-Exploration Corporation to import oil and make sure of the security of supply, Cusi said.
He explained to Noneco’s 21,000 consumers that the continuous increase in the prices of fuel is not caused by the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law, but by global problems that affect the oil sector.
He cited the unrest in Venezuela, the cut in Saudi Arabia production, and the Iran problem of the US embargo that is affecting the supply.
Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Third District Representative Alfredo Benitez said the timing of the implementation of the Train Law is wrong because fuel prices are increasing.
"One provision of Train Law is the excise tax on fuel but remember, this is one of the safety nets put by Congress that if the price of oil reaches $80 dollars, it would suspend the increase of excise tax on fuels. We are now at the threshold so that provision of the law would prevent further increase until the prices of fuels go down," Benitez said.
Oil companies increased fuel prices last week by P1.60 per liter for gasoline and P1.20 per liter for diesel. Another fuel price hike looms on Tuesday, May 29.