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A
PORTION of the fuel supply coming from members of the
Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA)
is feared to result in a disruption in the supply of
petroleum products in Metro Manila and other parts of
the country.
“This
[fuel shortage could be the repercussions of the Bureau
of Customs’ [BOC] recent closing down of Oilink’s
International Corp.’s depot in Mariveles, Bataan, which
is actually even one of the country’s largest oil
storage facilities due to tax arrears. The recent
hostile shutting down of Oilink’s storage facility also
affects the new oil players’ operations,” said Fernando
L. Martinez, IPPCA chairman.
Apart
from Oilink’s retail arm, Unioil Petroleum Philippines
Corp., according to the IPPCA official, other oil
companies share on the facility’s use also to store
their petroleum products.
In
closing the facility, the BOC alleged that Oillink
International Corp., the terminal’s operator, had tax
arrears of about P27 million allegedly incurred since
2004 and has actually ballooned to P353 million,
including penalties.
“The
closure of Oilink’s depot facilities impedes the ability
of IPPCA members and nonmembers catering to the needs of
its customers with petroleum products which taxes have
been duly paid for and have been released by the proper
authorities,” said Martinez.
Oilink’s
depot has a monthly capacity of one million barrels of
oil and accounts for about 12 percent of the country’s
total requirements and serves the requirements of more
than 500 refilling stations of small oil players all
over the country.
Martinez
warned that the BOC’s lock-up of their group’s fuel
supply could result in the drying up of the new oil
players’ gasoline stations in 10 to 15 days.
“Although IPPCA may contract the lost supply from other
sources, this would take long and would entail
additional costs that could lead to an increase in fuel
prices,” said Martinez.
“Why are
they doing this to us? Is it because we’re only small
companies?” Martinez asked.
The
IPPCA official said the country’s big three oil
companies have also received similar assessments from
the BOC amounting to billions of pesos, but have not had
their terminals closed down.
On July
26 Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales and the
armalite-wielding Special Action Forces of the PNP and
even some Nica personnel closed down and occupied the
oil depot terminal facility, and also locked down the
logistics supply of third parties, including the small
oil companies which are not included in their charges
but use the depot for storage.
The
companies renting storage services in the depot that
have been affected by the BOC closure include Cebu
Pacific for jet fuel; Ginebra San Miguel for alcohol;
Yokohama for diesel; Total, Eastern Petroleum, Flying V,
Seaoil and Unioil for fuel oil; and Kajima for the
asphalt needs of the Subic-Clark highway.
Oilink’s
lawyer Gil A. Valera, on the other hand, denied the
company owed the BOC the tax arrears and that the third
parties should not have even been included in the
closure as the supplies stored in the terminals of
Oilink are privately owned properties of these
companies.
Valera
said they have already filed a petition for temporary
restraining order against the BOC with the Court of Tax
Appeals. |
