Oil price stabilization fund sought

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April 17, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —  To enable the government to intervene when fuel prices and supplies are abnormal, a bill was filed in Congress seeking to establish a fuel regulatory board, a new oil price stabilization fund and strategic oil reserves.

Filed by Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua, House Bill 8839 or the proposed “Fuel Price Stabilization and Energy Security Act” effectively discards provisions of the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998.

Chua said that HB 8839 is a departure from the decades-old Oil Deregulation Law.

“It abandons the full deregulation policy. Instead, House Bill 8839 is grounded on consumer protection, economic stability, and energy security,” he said.

“Under the present system, when prices of oil in the world market surges, it directly affects the pocket of each Filipino. The government almost cannot do anything. In the proposed Fuel Price Stabilization and Energy Security Act, there will be clear mechanism to protect the Pinoy consumers,” Chua said in a statement.

In HB 8839, a Fuel Regulatory Board will be established composed of five members: a chairperson; two experts in energy economics, petroleum engineering, or energy policy; a consumer sector representative; and a transport sector representative.

“The Fuel Regulatory Board will have, among others, powers to regulate fuel prices, set temporary price bands or price ceilings, and investigate and prevent anti-competitive practices,” Chua said.

“The new Oil Price Stabilization Fund in House Bill 8839, unlike the old and defunct OPSF, is for fuel price stabilization. The bill specifically avoided and omits the words ‘reimbursement’ and ‘reimburse’ which defined the old OPSF and guaranteed oil firms’ profits and buried the treasury in massive deficits,” he added.

Chua cited that if world oil prices suddenly surge and gasoline or diesel prices are projected to rise by P5 per liter, the government can use the Oil Price Stabilization Fund to soften the blow, so motorists may only feel a smaller increase or no increase at all.

He said the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is for severe supply disruption or extraordinary price volatility.

Meanwhile, House deputy minority leader Rep. Antonio Tinio slammed yesterday the Department of Finance for its claim that suspending excise taxes on diesel and gasoline will provide “no meaningful relief,” calling the position self-serving and deceptive.

Sen. Francis Escudero urged the administration to take advantage of the windfall value-added tax collections on the more expensive petroleum products, to provide subsidies to sectors affected by the Middle East crisis.  – Delon Porcalla, Marc Jayson Cayabyab