The leaders and members of the Kilusang Mayo Uno vow to actively participate in the people’s protest on September 19. We unite with other sectors of society in fighting the overpricing of petroleum products being carried out by the oil cartel, as well as the collusion between the oil cartel and the Aquino government.
Amidst low wages, rising prices, massive unemployment and widespread poverty and hunger, the Filipino workers and people are calling for an immediate relief from the high and still-soaring prices of oil products. Implement a P9.00 rollback now! Remove the 12% VAT on oil products! Junk the Oil Deregulation Law! Nationalize the oil industry!
The overpricing being implemented by the Big 3 oil companies is simply reprehensible. They have matched price rollbacks in the world market with meager rollbacks here. They have matched price increases in the world market with huge increases here. As a result, they have accumulated a P9.00 overpricing per liter of oil since January 2008. There is no way to describe this except as robbery: the Filipino workers and people are being robbed of our hard-earned incomes.
Instead of reining in on the overpricing scheme of the Big 3 oil companies, however, the Aquino government has continued to implement the Oil Deregulation Law. The ODL has allowed oil companies to increase prices at will to boost their already immense profits. Under the deregulated setup of the oil industry, all it takes for the Big 3 to increase prices is load for texting the government.
The Aquino government has no intention of junking the ODL because it is colluding with the Big 3 in boosting profits. The higher the oil prices, the bigger is the government’s collection from the Value-Added Tax. Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, furthermore, is not known for going against his family’s economic interests, and it is his uncle, Danding Cojuangco, who owns Petron, Number 1 among the Big 3 in terms of profits.
After ignoring the workers’ and people’s clamor for an immediate relief from the high and skyrocketing prices of petroleum products, the Aquino regime was forced to act to avert a possible transport strike. It held a dialogue with transport groups last 14 September to dangle vague promises and threats against those who will join the transport strike. It has, however, failed to address the transport workers’ and people’s calls on the issue.
We therefore wholeheartedly support the September 19 transport strike. We likewise declare a people’s protest on that day. We are calling on the drivers of public utility vehicles to join the transport strike. We are also calling on the workers and people to join the people’s protests. The high and increasing prices of petroleum products is everyone’s issue. Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson
