SENATE President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III files for “Total repeal of Republic Act 8479”, which seeks to give the authority back to the government to regulate oil prices in the country.
“Since 1998, I did not vote for the passing of the Oil Deregulation Law and in 2022, I pushed for the review of this particular law.” Sotto said.
Sotto has been firm against the passing of the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998 which deregulated the competitive pricing of players in the oil industry.
Before RA 8479, the Energy Regulatory Board set petroleum prices based on global oil costs and exchange rates, with the Oil Price Stabilization Fund absorbing fluctuations to prevent changes in pump prices.
“It is high time to give back to the state the authority to manage fuel prices. Now that our petroleum prices are directly impacted by the geopolitical tension in the Middle East, transparency, scrutiny and uniformity in pricing are needed more than ever,” Sotto concluded.
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