Workers led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno picketed the San Miguel Corporation main office in Ortigas anew today to condemn the continuing overpricing of petroleum products in the light of another round of oil price hikes.
Shell and Chevron implemented an increase of oil prices by P0.90 per liter of unleaded and regular gasoline and P0.70 per liter of diesel and kerosene effective 6am today.
SMC now owns the majority of shares in Petron, the country’s Number 1 oil company in terms of profits.
Carrying a large image of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his uncle and SMC owner Danding Cojuangco together with a slogan “Iba ang may pinagsamahan,” workers condemned the SMC’s profiteering at the expense of workers and poor people.
“Another round of oil price hikes were implemented today, even though the Big 3 implemented a rollback lower than the amount equivalent to the rollback in world oil prices. It also implemented a price hike higher than what the world market warrants just a few weeks after,” said Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general.
“The SMC main office is an object of anger for the Filipino workers and people not only because Petron is overpricing its products but also because it is a symbol of the Aquino government’s collusion with the oil companies. It is here where promises of ‘matuwid na daan’ are buried, with Pres. Aquino favoring his relatives over the Filipino people,” he added.
“The Big 3 continues to stoke the anger of the Filipino workers and people with incessant price hikes, overpricing and monopoly control of the oil industry,” he said.
Impending toll fee hike
KMU said the non-stop oil price hikes and the Big 3’s overpricing are converging with the impending toll fee hike to create a mixture that is explosive for any sitting president.
“The poverty and hunger being suffered by workers and poor people are becoming even more intolerable in the face of non-stop oil price hikes, the overpricing of petroleum products, and the impending increase in toll fees in the country’s expressways,” Soluta said.
“Pres. Aquino is sure to encounter widespread opposition on the issue of oil overpricing and toll fee hike. People are talking about local coordinated protests, centralized protests and even a nationwide transport strikes on these issues,” he added. Roger Soluta, KMU Secretary General
