MEDIA RELEASE March 24, 2000
Aside from nationalizing the downstream sector of the oil industry, there is one more thing the Estrada government can do to prevent oil price hikes in the future and weaken the cartel's grip in the industry: tap the country's 228 million barrels of proven oil reserves.
However, in order to do this, the Estrada government should be prepared to stand up to strong pressures from the IMF and World Bank as these two global institutions are sure to shot this proposal down.
This is what Kontra Kartel spokesperson Carol Almeda said during today's weekly Black Friday Protest against oil price hike, the cartel and the oil deregulation law.
Members of the Kontra Kartel along with the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Gabriela, the League of Filipino Students distributed anti-cartel stickers, flyers and posters in Cubao and in three other areas in Metro Manila this afternoon.
"So it's not true that the government cannot do anything to prevent oil prices from increasing. Estrada would have been more truthful and more accurate if he said that the government cannot do anything about oil price hikes because their policy choices are severely constrained by the IMF and the World Bank prescriptions," said Prof. Carol Almeda, spokesperson of the Kontra Kartel.
"In short, Estrada doesn't want to defy the two institutions' imposition to deregulate the industry and minimize so-called government intervention in the market," she said.
Almeda said that from the IMF and the World Bank's point of view, the government initiating oil exploration and crude oil production are just a waste of government money. Such activities, in their opinion are better left in the hands of the private sector.
In the same manner, she said, these two institutions are also against the creation of a National Oil Exchange and the imposition of price controls. Almeda also reminded that the Oil Deregulation Law, RA 8479 was part of the conditionalities of the IMF.
"Once the government decides to engage in crude oil production, the country won't be severely affeced by fluctuations in the prices of crude oil in the international market which is controlled by a handful of multinational oil companies in connivance with the elite government's of OPEC," she said.
However, at present, Almeda said that it is an Australian firm, the Sydney Oil Company Drilling and Exploration (SOCDET) that is leading efforts to explore oil reserves in the country with a view to exploiting it.
"We must not allow foreign firms to exploit our natural oil reserves. We must not allow a monopoly in the downstream sector of the oil industry just as there is a cartel in the upstream oil sector. The Filipinos should be the first to reap the benefits of our oil resources," she said.
Expecting another round of increase, the Kontra Kartel and Bayan will stage nationwide protest actions on March 30.