PRESS RELEASE
23 January 2012
A militant urban poor group belied the claim of the Department of Energy that its new E-Trike program could ease the burden felt Filipinos brought by the unabated oil price hikes.
DOE recently launched a nationwide contest to seek for the best design for an electric vehicle that will replace the petroleum-fueled trikes.
“DOE should have considered the high cost of electricity in the country, that is considered to be the highest in Asia, and the fifth highest in the world,” Kadamay national secretary-general Gloria Arellano said.
The leader added, “The Aquino administration has kept on diverting itself from the real problem of oil price in the country, and from its promise to the people to review the Oil Deregulation Law (ODL).”
The militants blamed the deregulation policy of the government through the implementation of ODL as behind the unprecedented price hikes on petroleum products, and demanded Aquino for a repeal of the said law.
“The administration has only the Pantawid-Pasada program, and the occasional and minimal rollback on oil prices to boast of, while it amassed millions of pesos from the 12% E-VAT it collected from the oil companies,” Arellano said.
Power rate hike
Meanwhile, Kadamay also slammed the Aquino adminstration’s inaction in the case of the high power rate in the country. “Similar to the function of Oil Deregulation Law, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) has only created the problem with regards to the high cost of electricity in the country,” said Arellano.
“EPIRA has ensured the gradual privatization of Napocor’s assets, and government abandonment of its responsibility to subsidize the power industry. Debt payment, in turn, is left for the consumers to shoulder,” Arellano added.
Harder to make ends meet
The group also claimed that because of the high rate of electricity, and the unabated price hikes on petroleum products, the urban poor find it hard to make ends meet with just an average of P200 daily earning, amount not even enough to buy food and send their children to school.
Kadamay warned the public of impending price hikes on transport fare, services and basic commodities in the coming days, as the Aquino administration continues to defend the ODL and EPIRA, and serves as protector of the interests of the foreign oil cartel, and businesses in the power industry. ###
Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay)
Militant Center of the Urban Poor in the Philippines
Reference: Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national secretary-general (0921.392.7457)
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