In an era of rising prices, there have been calls to repeal the Deregulation Law. Should the law be repealed to bring down prices?
Repealing the Deregulation Law is not the answer to the rise in oil prices. Even if the law were repealed, the Philippines will still be subjected to the same factorsa rise in oil prices in the global market. Likewise, the repeal will necessitate subsidizing local oil prices. According to the report of the Independent Review Committee in 2005, the OPSFwhich was used to subsidize prices before the deregulation of the oil industryencountered a deficit of P 15 billion. Likewise, the committee, in its report, noted that subsidizing prices in the first 4 months of 2005 would have cost the country P 1.5 billion if the government had bore the P 1/liter discount for public utility vehicles (i. e., jeepney lanes). This discount is currently borne by the oil companies.
