News Release
18 January 2012
KMU calls for nationwide protest vs. oil overpricing
Responding to the four rounds of oil price hikes this year, labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno calls for a nationwide protest against oil overpricing in the coming weeks, saying the Aquino government should respond to the people’s demand for an immediate relief from the skyrocketting prices of petroleum products.
Since January, the three biggest oil companies have increased the price of diesel by PhP 2.70 per liter, regular gasoline by PhP 2.60 per liter, unleaded gasoline by PhP 2.20 per liter and kerosene by PhP 2.50 per liter.
KMU has been calling on the government to stop the overpricing of petroleum products, saying the local oil companies have been overpricing their products by as much as PhP 9.00 per liter in August last year. “They are taking advantage of every price hike in the world market to try to justify their immediate and huge price increases in the country,” Elmer Labog, KMU chairperson, said.
“That is one of the ways that the Big 3 oil companies overprice their products, by immediately and exorbitantly hiking prices whenever there’s an increase in the world market. They are raking huge profits while the people are suffering from the high prices of oil and other commodities,” he added.
Aquino conniving with Big 3
The labor leader condemned President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for ignoring calls for an end to the overpricing of petroleum products, the scrapping of the 12 percent Value-Added Tax on oil, and the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law.
“The Aquino government has so far ignored three nationwide protests which we have launched in furtherance of our calls. It has actively colluded with the Big 3 in hiking the prices of petroleum products whenever the flimsiest basis for a price hike presents itself,” Labog said.
“The Filipino workers and people are suffering because wages and incomes do not rise as fast and as significant as the prices of oil and basic goods and services. We will not hesitate to launch more nationwide protests against the overpricing of petroleum products,” he added. “The Aquino government has left us with no other option than to launch protests. It is forcing us to hold bigger and bolder protests,” he said.
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