A lawmaker wants the House Committee on Energy to require oil companies to open their books for congressional investigation, a press release from Congress said.

Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, Jr. (Lone District, City of Dasmariñas) said the House panel should summon the officials of the oil companies, particularly the Big 3, amid allegations of continued overpricing of oil and other petroleum products. Oil prices rolled back their petroleum products and gasoline prices by P1 to P2 per liter during the month of October due to the downtrend of cost of crude oil in the world market, Barzaga noted.

"Despite the said rollbacks announced by these oil companies, fuel products purportedly remained overpriced and oil firms still owe consumers bigger cuts in its fuel pump prices," he said.

Barzaga said various transport groups are clamoring for a P9 rollback, alleging that the oil companies are quick to increase their prices but slow to reduce them when global oil prices go down. The more these companies such as Pilipinas Shell, Chevron Philippines and Petron delay the corresponding reductions in local pump prices, the more consumers are exploited through the alleged exorbitant prices they are imposing on oil and petroleum products, he said.

"There should be transparency in the increase/rollback of oil prices and as a measure, oil companies must be required to open their books of accounts so that the public would know if the price increases and rollbacks were justified," Barzaga said.*

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