MANILA, Philippines ? Militant and transport groups urged government agencies on Friday to take decisive action to control the price increases being implemented by the oil companies, as these only add to the burden of rotating brownouts and high power rates.

In a joint statement, the Anakpawis Partylist, Kilusang Mayo Uno, and the transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston) claimed that it was ?all in the power of the Department of Energy to restrain the greediness of the oil cartel.?

?The very least that the DoE can do is to exercise political will in stopping oil price hikes,? said KMU Secretary General Roger Soluta.

Local oil companies have, so far, raised prices of gasoline by a total of P2.50 a liter and of diesel and kerosene by P2 a liter, for three consecutive weeks in March alone.

Oil companies justified the price hikes by citing the upward trend in the cost of Dubai crude. From last month's $73 per barrel, the prices rose to $77 per barrel in March, the groups said.

"It goes without saying that the Big 3 and independent oil players are always overpricing oil products. They even increase local pump prices when global crude prices are in downtrend trend. For sure, they will use the current situation to impose unjust price hikes at every opportunity at the expense of consumers,? Soluta said.

The labor leader added that consumers, most especially the transport sector, are feeling the brunt of the latest oil price adjustments.

"Oil price hikes are adding torment to the already miserable state of our people burdened by rotating brownouts and increasing cost of power rates due to El Nino,? he noted.

For his part, Anakpawis Representative Joel Maglunsod said they were also proposing long-term solutions to the oil price increase problem.

?We are pushing for the junking of the Oil Deregulation Law that allowed the free-rein of the oil cartel in the downstream oil industry,? Maglunsod said.

?These are the challenges we pose to the next administration ? to scrap oil deregulation and restore state control in the oil industry, to make significant steps towards the nationalization of the oil industry and finding alternative sources of oil supply including national procurement,? he said.