Sharon Garin on Oil Price Hike: “We must act now, or all of us will be affected.” This was the urgent call of Congresswoman Sharon Garin during Monday’s public hearing by the House Fuel Crisis Ad Hoc Committee on the ongoing surge in petroleum prices.
Garin, who chairs the joint body composed of four committees, noted the ripple effect of rising oil prices affecting various sectors of the economy. In her opening statement, Garin articulated the unspoken apprehension of many about the long-term effect of rising oil prices.
“The significant and most painful impact of this trend is what we call the ‘sticky price’ phenomenon – retailers do not usually lower their prices even when oil prices eventually go down. Consumers, the rich and the poor, all of us, we are all affected. Because of this, we cannot afford to just sit here and watch events take their due course. We must act now,” said Garin.
Drawing from the discussions during the said hearing, the AAMBIS-OWA Representative, who also heads the House Committee on Economic Affairs, expressed optimism about the range of possible measures available to address the crisis.
“Since we have an increase in oil prices, we have increased collections. We don’t problem with the supply, as explained by the Department of Energy. We don’t have problem with the budget for subsidizing the transport sector. Despite the short notice, we decided to continue with this meeting… we had to make decisions already, ” Garin added.
The Fuel Crisis Ad Hoc Committee, which is composed of the House Committee on Economic Affairs, Committee on Energy, Committee on Transportation, and Committee on Ways and Means, intends to persuade the President to call for a special session to tackle bills suspending petroleum excise tax.
