ANGELES CITY – A militant alliance of fisherfolk warned yesterday that Pres. Aquino’s popularity might yet be replaced by appeals for his resignation amid his alleged lack of action to curtail continuing fuel price increases.
“Filipinos fed up with weekly hikes in the prices of petroleum products may soon demand the resignation of Pres. Aquino unless Malacañang does something decisive to stop oil companies from imposing fuel cost hikes,” the alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said in a press statement.
The group said the President in now “facing a make or break situation.”
Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap urged the President “not to rely on his current high popularity ratings.”
“Mr. Aquino could turn out to be just an overnight sensation. The oil price hike problem compounding and exacerbating the chronic crisis cannot be resolved by popularity rating and puppetry to oil cartel,” he said.
Oil companies led by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Total Philippines recently hiked prices of regular gasoline by 85 centavos a liter, premium gasoline by 60 centavos a liter, kerosene by 30 centavos a liter, and of diesel, by 20 centavos a liter.
They were followed by Petron Corp. and Chevron Philippines. Petron likewise hiked the prices of its cooking gas by P3 per kilogram or about P33 per 11-kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Hicap accused Aquino of “ignoring sound proposals from different groups demanding an immediate halt to oil price increases, the scrapping of oil deregulation law and the nationalization of oil industry.”
