MANILA, Philippines — A Pilipinas Shell executive took the witness stand at the Makati Regional Trial Court on Wednesday morning to testify for the scrapping of a Malacañang order that imposed a price cap on oil products.

The Pilipinas Shell said the executive order from the Palace has been "unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional" and has had a grave impact on their business of refining and distributing fuel products in the country.

Judge Winlove Dumayas of the RTC Branch 59 has allowed Shell’s vice president for finance, Willy Sarmiento, to testify in the petition against Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes.

The oil company has asked the court to grant a temporary restraining order on Executive Order 839, which effectively pegged oil prices in typhoon-battered Luzon at October 15, 2009 levels.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed EO 839 as a form of relief for those who are still struggling to recover from the cyclones that successively whipped major cities and provinces of Luzon.

But oil companies have complained that the EO has been distorting the supply and demand dynamics of the market, and has created losses that prevent them from importing crude oil and finished oil products.