Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the DOE has to make its recommendation soon on who should be in the audit team.
“I’ve notified the Philippine Institute of Petroleum [PIP]. I’ve given my suggestions on who should be in that audit team. I nominated an economist, a businessman, a consumer representative, a transport group leader, and the dean of University of the Philippines School of Economics. I even recommended that the team include a representative from the print and broadcast media,” Almendras said.
“We’ve sent a letter to those we think should be included in that audit team and we hope they will accept it,” he said.
The PIP has said it preferred that the DOE make the recommendations on who should be part of the audit team.
PIP member companies earlier accepted the challenge to have their financial statement scrutinized by industry stakeholders and consumer groups.
Chevron Philippines Inc., Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., PTT Philippines Corp. and Total (Philippines) Corp., in a press conference, said their financial reports and statements are regularly submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission and even to the Philippine Stock Exchange, in the case of Petron.
During the press conference, Sally Monteiro, PIP executive director, proposed that a government panel—similar to what was done in 2005 and 2008—be reconstituted to review the books and financial statements of local oil companies.
She also urged independent oil players to follow their lead and have their financial statements reviewed to provide people with accurate and comprehensive information on the issue of oil pricing.
Monteiro, likewise, suggested that the review panel be composed of legitimate representatives of the affected sectors who are also competent and respected in their respective fields.
“Any review should have well-defined objectives that take into consideration the views and opinions of various sectors with emphasis in promoting the balanced interest of all stakeholders,” Monteiro said.
Roberto Kanapi, Pilipinas Shell’s vice president for communications, said the review of their books by a credible panel would put to rest allegations of “overpricing.”
“It’s been done before. And data are always available for public scrutiny. The public can check it with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s just a matter of putting this data together for the public to better understand the downstream oil business,” he said.
Almendras earlier noted that some people were “using” the issue of oil prices to “further their motives.”
“Why is the oil industry more politicized here in the country compared to other places? I think the key here is to really accept and understand that the situation of petroleum is really different now,” he said.
Almendras gave assurances, however, that the energy department will continue to strengthen its monitoring.
“Right now, our focus is price monitoring and it’s not just on the oil companies but also the dealers. We have proven that the government has been effective with the oil-price monitoring in oil companies. It’s the retail side that we want to strengthen,” he said.
