Maila Ager
Inquirer.net
October 20, 2010

MANILA, Philippines – There is a need for legislation that will prohibit price increases during calamities, a senator proposed on Wednesday.

Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan specifically trained his gun on oil companies that have allegedly raised their prices in the wake of Typhoon “Juan’s” onslaught.

“That is insensitive and uncalled for – it’s like rubbing salt to our wounds,” said Pangilinan, who heads both the agriculture and social justice committees in the Senate.

“’Juan’ has not even left the country and our people are still reeling from the effects of the devastation it has caused, and these companies can only think of raising prices? They should pity the people,” he said in Filipino.

Pangilinan questioned why these companies could not defer any price increase, especially during these times of crisis when Filipinos should work together.

“Now’s a time when we all need to work together to rebuild after the world’s worst storm of the year. To even consider raising prices now is bordering on criminal already,” he said.

Because of this, the senator said there should be a legislation to prevent this kind of abuses by unscrupulous corporations.

“We will look into crafting legislation that bars price hikes during times of calamity to prevent corporate abuse especially when consumers are at their most vulnerable,” he said.

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