Thread by @cnnphilippines

THREAD: The House Committee on Energy probes trends of retail oil prices in the Philippines. Rep. Stella Quimbo asks about fuel price spikes even as oil companies are stockpiling | LIVE bit.ly/3nN6Vvn

Tweets by our correspondent @meltlopez

@meltlopez DOE Director Rino Abad: We don’t have a formula or a body saying this should be the oil price adjustment. What the law provides is for DOE to monitor and publish the prices. | @meltlopez

@meltlopez DOE: It is only when there's a price freeze during emergency situations when we can control oil prices, and that lasts 15 days only. | @meltlopez

@meltlopez Rep. Quimbo cites the 2019 Saudi Arabia drone attacks on oil rigs, which led to an instant spike in local fuel prices: If companies have stockpiles, why do they charge high when they bought old stock at cheaper rates? | @meltlopez

@meltlopez DOE: Hindi po namin alam kung bakit sila nag-iincrease at any point in time. The agreement is they do it weekly. We don't know the pricing formula of the oil firms -– there's oil deregulation law. | @meltlopez

@meltlopez Rep. Quimbo points out that when global oil prices surge, the spike is immediately implemented by local oil companies: Pero kung mabilis bumaba ang presyo, mabagal ang pag-reflect sa atin. | @meltlopez