DoE, DoJ need to endorse lifting of price freeze

THE LIFTING of a fuel prize freeze will depend on the recommendation of two departments tasked with monitoring implementation of the directive, the Palace yesterday said.

With foreign business chambers chiming in on Sunday against the open-ended order, which directed oil firms to roll back prices in Luzon to Oct. 15 levels, deputy spokesman Lorelie C. Fajardo said consultations regarding a timetable were ongoing.

"[But] for as long as there is a state of calamity in Luzon, then the price control will remain," she told reporters.

The Energy and Justice departments, Ms. Fajardo said, are currently undertaking the consultations as Executive Order 839’s implementing rules do not state when the price control would be lifted.

"The president has the discretion to lift it but that will be on the recommendations of the DoJ (Department of Justice) and DoE (Department of Energy)," she said, adding that a review is under consideration given global market movements.

Officials from both agencies were not immediately available for comment.

"Justice Secretary [Agnes ] Devanadera said there will be a continuous dialogue and consultation ... there should be a balance between business and the need for the victims of the calamities to recover," Ms. Fajardo said.

Malacañang based the price freeze on its having declared a state of calamity in Luzon, parts of which -- Metro Manila and northern provinces, in particular -- were battered by two storms in recent weeks.

Palace economic affairs spokesman Gary B. Olivar said the president could declare an end to the price freeze even before the lifting of the state of calamity, but only upon recommendations of the two agencies.

"The EO is justified by the state of calamity but may be lifted independent of that," he said.

An official of one foreign business chamber said they remained concerned as the lack of a definite termination date was fostering uncertainty.

"We still see this as an open-ended [policy]. The price control could lead to complications and disruption in the market," Henry J. Schumacher, executive vice-president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said in a telephone interview.

The last dialogue they attended with the Justice and Energy departments, he said, did not provide indications as to when the order would be lifted. -- G. S. dela Peña

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DoE, DoJ need to endorse lifting of price freeze