House Speaker Prospero Nograles yesterday said he is amenable to the lifting of Executive Order 839 that placed petroleum products under price control, provided oil companies will agree to full disclosure of their stock inventories and importation records that will justify any price adjustment, a press release from his office said.

Nograles said that while he recognizes the need to balance public welfare and healthy business environment, the state must assert its will to protect its citizens from abusive business practices, including cartelization and price manipulation in the oil industry.

“The debate on whether or not our oil companies, particularly the so-called Big 3, should now be resolved. The only way we can have the most accurate conclusion is for the oil firms to open their books and show the public that all the negative things attributed to them are just misperceptions…” Nograles said in the press release.

He said he understands that business is for profit, but raking in unreasonable profits at the expense of public interest and when the public is left with no or little choice is unconscionable.

Nograles made the reaction after the Joint Foreign Chambers issued a statement demanding the termination of President Arroyo’s EO 839, which places petroleum products under price control, the press release added.*

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