The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) decried the most recent increase in oil prices particularly the price of liquefied petroleum gas as well as the approved rate increase of 17.37 per kilowatt-hour by Napocor. According to Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secretary general of the group, “this is the 10th time that the price of LPG has increased and it seems that the end for these increases is not within the immediate future. If we are to trace the increases in oil price since the implementation of the Oil Deregulation law or RA 8479, there had already been 64 increases,”

“In the price of crude oil its overall increase P4.20 and P5.10 in gasoline, as for LPG it has started its increase only this year but it has reached almost P100. So we are one with every Filipino in calling for the scrapping of the oil deregulation law. We are also against the privatization of Napocor because it would only mean an incessant increase in power rates,” added Ramos.

It is ironic that the government is wringing the people upside-down to get more money but they are also letting such companies get a lot of profit. Is this the policy of the government? To bleed the people dry of resources and let the big corporations suck out our hard earned money. Actually this is also the reason for the fiscal crisis. The big businessmen and corporations are being treated like spoiled children of the government and we the people are made to be the ever-accommodating yayas.  

“Basically due to the enormous greed of these oil companies, Napocor, and Meralco we Filipinos are better off by using our old “kusot” (sawdust) stoves, charcoal, and firewood for cooking while using coconut oil lamps for lighting. These products are also cheaper, a sack of kusot only costs P10 and it can be used up to two weeks. So for a month’s consumption you only need P20, a tremendous savings from the near P400 price of LPG,” said Carl Anthony Ala, public information officer of KMP.

“If worse comes to worst maybe it will be best for us to abandon the use of LPG, so that these oil companies will know how to be really bankrupt. All they say is that they are losing money, but in reality they are raking in profits, maybe they should be the one to shoulder the debt of our country,” ended Ala. # # # 
 

KMP - 3 September 2004