Kinondena ni House Deputy Minority Leader at ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio ang Department of Energy (DOE) sa ginawa nitong emergency fuel procurement noong kasagsagan ng energy crisis na nagresulta sa pagkalugi ng gobyerno.
Sinabi ni Tinio na sa kasagsagan ng krisis sa langis sa unang bahagi ng taon, dulot ng giyera ng US at Iran na nagsimula noong Marso 2026, direktang bumili ang gobyerno ng 21,000 litro ng LPG at 268,180,012 litro ng diesel at gasolina.
Ayon sa solon, bumili ang gobyerno ng LPG sa halagang humigit-kumulang P70 kada litro at ibinenta ito sa mga commercial LPG player sa halagang P53 kada litro, “a clear loss.” Sinabi niyang naibenta na ang buong stock nitong unang bahagi ng buwan.
“The government bought high and sold low to private LPG players, and the people gained nothing. The DOE admitted it merely ‘stabilized supply.’ Worse, the bulk of the diesel and gasoline was sold to private oil companies at prevailing market prices, with no guarantee whatsoever that these sales translated into lower pump prices for consumers,” sabi ni Tinio.
Sa mahigit 268 milyong litro na binili, sinabi ni Tinio na 181.7 milyong litro ang nananatili sa Philippine Coastal Storage Facility sa Subic, na pag-aari ng US investment firm na I-Squared.
“The DOE itself admitted it did not know that the same facility stores the fuel reserves of the US Navy. Our meager strategic reserves are collocated with the facilities of a foreign military. The war in Iran showed us that fuel depots are prime targets — as seen in Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE,” sabi ni Tinio.
“This is a question of national security and energy sovereignty that the DOE must confront, especially with the Marcos Jr. administration expanding the US military footprint on our critical civilian infrastructure,” dagdag pa nito.
Muling binatikos ni Tinio ang Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) at binanggit ang datos ng DOE na nagpapakita ng 92 araw ng yellow alert at 29 araw ng red alert sa Visayas grid ngayong taon, kumpara sa pitong alert lamang sa Luzon.
“EPIRA promised lower electricity prices and adequate supply. Both promises have been broken. Electricity rates went up, not down. And now, the Visayas has been thrown back to the dark days of the 1990s, with daily rotating brownouts while those who can afford it run their generators. Deregulation has failed the Filipino people,” sabi ni Tinio.
“We are calling for the repeal of EPIRA. The framework of deregulation and the removal of the direct hand of government in the power industry has not worked. The State must regain control over this vital industry. Electricity is a basic necessity, not a commodity to be left to the profit motives of private players,” dagdag pa ng mambabatas. (Billy Begas)
