MANILA, Philippines — Transport group MANIBELA warned of wider protest actions if the Department of Energy (DOE) and oil companies fail to implement a major fuel rollback following United States President Donald Trump announcement of peace deal between the US and Iran.
MANIBELA Chairman Mar Valbuena told The Manila Times in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that the group is preparing larger protests after calling on oil firms to bring back previous fuel prices, saying the easing of Middle East war removes the reason for continued high pump prices.
Valbuena said MANIBELA will announce its next action if no significant rollback is implemented next week despite the peace deal announcement.
“We are planning large-scale protests. Because of the announcement of the peace deal and there is still no bigger rollback next week, we will make an announcement.”
He said oil companies had benefited for months from fuel price increases linked to the Middle East situation despite the Philippines not being directly involved in the conflict.
“Because of the US-Iran peace deal, oil companies should return the previous prices of petroleum products and there has been no war for a long time. For months, oil companies have benefited from taking advantage of the situation in the Middle East where we were not directly attacked, but we are worse off than those hit by missiles because of the very high price of petroleum.”
Valbuena also questioned the continued use of the Strait of Hormuz situation as a reason for high fuel prices, saying the Philippines does not directly source oil from the Middle East.
“For the DOE, you have also been neglectful for a long time. Maybe now that you no longer have the excuse of Hormuz-Hormuz, we can return to the previous prices, unless you are also benefiting from this.”
