President Aquino on Tuesday thumbed down the offer of Petron Corp. to sell back its oil refinery in Bataan to the government, saying such business operations are best left with the private sector.

In a chance interview after the Coast Guard anniversary, Mr. Aquino said it has always been his position that the government cannot efficiently run an entity “with purely business applications.”

“I think that’s a good offer from them but I don’t think at this point in time it would be in the best interest of the people if government were to re-run Petron—at least as far as the refinery operations are concerned,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said if the government were to run the refinery, those who would manage it would be government appointees.

“My concept there is those who would run it, instead of being guided by business principles which will lead to efficiencies, his guidance would be on what would please the appointing authority which may be contrary to sound business practices,” he said.

Under government control, The President said the refinery could only end up losing money, further straining government coffers.

“In the end, what may be profitable now may end up losing money when managed by the government, and it will only add to the burdens of the people if we do that,” he said.

Asked if the offer should be seen as a sign that Petron is unhappy with the current situation, the President said, “No, I think…they have to be very sensitive to the consumers’ sentiments and perhaps this is a way of addressing that.”

Petron chairman and chief executive Ramon S. Ang had earlier written Energy Secretary Rene Almendras to convey that Petron is open to the re-sale of its Bataan oil refinery to the government to give it “effective participation” in the oil industry.

Ang sent the letter amid calls for the amendment of the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Law in view of rising oil prices.

Almendras, however, has already said the government doesn’t have the resources to accept Petron’s offer.

But a militant legislator said the government could use the Malampaya funds to reacquire the Bataan refinery. By doing this, Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna said this would allow the government to sell oil products “at the proper and correct price.”

Citing a report of the Commission on Audit and the Department of Energy, Colmenares said the total Malampaya funds collected since 2002 up to June 30, 2011 and placed in a special account called Fund 151, has amounted to P115,172,459,739.78.

“The Aquino government itself projected [the Malampaya funds] to amount to P169 billion by 2012. In short, the government can afford to buy back Petron using the Malampaya fund,” Colmenares said.

According to Colmenares, Mr. Aquino has “unbridled discretion” over the fund and that he could easily grab the chance of controlling a major industry that will give a big relief to the Filipinos.

“Bilhin na natin ang Petron at malaki ang impact nito sa ating lahat,” Colmenares said.

The militant bloc in the House of Representatives is seeking the repeal of Oil Deregulation Law under House Bill 4355 that also seeks for the buy-back of Petron, the centralized procurement of the country’s oil supplies, and the establishment of a strictly administered price buffer fund.

(With Fernan Marasigan)