Q&A on rising oil prices

The League of Filipino Students, ably chaired by Vencer, has released a Filipino Q&A on the hot issue of oil price increases bedeviling the nation and the world.

Some interesting excerpts from the LFS primer, translated to English:

This year alone

• gasoline prices went up 16 time (or by a total P9/liter)
• diesel prices rose 13 times (or by a total P6.50/liter)
• prices for kerosene increased 13 times (or by P7/liter)
• LPG prices went down 7 times but rose 13 times

From 2001 (when Arroyo became president), petroleum prices have gone up by 275 percent!

• Premium gasoline price was P16.56/liter in 2001; Today, it is at P45.18/liter
• Diesel price was P13.82/liter in 2001; Today, it now stands at P37.95/liter

Ibon estimate of overprice by the oil companies: P4.55/liter

Transfer-pricing by the oil companies result in profits of: P19-billion

GMA’s tax levied on oil products: 10 percent

The primer also explains why the oil deregulation law is a failure, and why the global oil price surge cannot be used to justify rising oil prices in the country. In fact, the primer pursues the alternative track of seeking the nationalization of the oil industry as the long-term solution to our petroleum woes.

You may download the primer in two PDF formats: for normal printing, and in booklet format.

Photo courtesy of Arkibong Bayan.