MANILA, Philippines -- Senate Majority Floor Leader Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan reiterated his call to the public on Thursday to boycott the three giant oil companies in the country for their "obvious collusion" to delay the lowering of oil prices.

This, Pangilinan said, despite the dramatic plummeting of oil prices in the world.

Pangilinan issued the statement amid reports that Pilipinas Shell and Petron Corp. announced a P1 reduction in their products starting this Friday and Chevron, the third major oil firm in the country, is expected to follow suit.

"Bistado na sila [They are caught]. Noong nagtataas sila ng presyo, ang dahilan nila ay ang biglaang pagtaas ng presyo ng langis sa pandaigdigang merkado [When they raised oil prices, their reason for doing so was the sudden increase in crude prices in the world market]. Bakit ngayong biglaan at nakagugulat din ang pagbaba ng presyo sa pandaigdigang merkado, hindi nila magawang magbaba din ng biglaan [And now that there is a sudden and surprising drop in prices in the world marke, they cannot bring down their prices]?” he asked.

“Hindi nila pwede sabihing hindi nila kayang gawin iyun. Masyado naman silang gahaman [They can’t say that they can’t do that. They are too greedy],” he said.

If the small players can instantly lower prices to adhere to the world market, then the senator wondered why the three companies could not also do it.

“They should stop making excuses and just do what is right,” he said.

Pangilinan also lashed at Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes for defending the big companies.

"Kelan pa siya naging spokesman ng Shell, Petron at Caltex [And since when was he a spokesman for Shell, Petron, and Caltex]? Bakit siya ang nagsasalita para sa kanila [And why is he speaking for them]? Hindi ba dapat siya ang boses ng taumbayan sa usaping ito [Shouldn’t he be the voice of the people in this case]? How can he explain the staggered oil price decrease when oil has gone down considerably?" he pointed out.

Pangilinan said the people “should not take this sitting down,” as he urged them to show defiance by boycotting the “Big Three” oil firms and supporting the small players.

“The Big Three cannot continue to ignore us. Kung ayaw nilang makinig tayo na dapat ang mismong gumawa ng paraan para mapuwersa silang making sa ating hinaing [If they do not want to listen then maybe we should do something to force them to listen to our woes]. Iboykot natin sila [Let’s boycott them],” he further said.