It’s a great week for our countrymen due to three positive developments.
First is the big-time oil price rollbacks. Second, the “telco-serye” has come to an end with the selection of Mislatel consortium as the country’s third telco player.
The last is the Philippine Navy’s new missile system to help us realize our dream of “minimum credible defense.”
The latest oil price rollbacks are P2.30 per liter for diesel, P1.10 per liter for gasoline and P2.10 per liter for kerosene. The price cuts for diesel and gasoline are the 18th and 17th this year, respectively.
Phoenix Petroleum brought down its prices around noon on Nov. 24. Seaoil followed suit at 6 a.m. the following day, while Jetti lowered its prices at 6 a.m. on Nov. 26. The Big Three, namely Shell, Petron and Caltex, together with Petrogazz and PTT, reduced their prices only at 6 a.m. today, Nov. 27.
As far as we know, the weekly average gas and diesel prices are based on Mean of Platts Singapore with the results already known on Friday evening. Why then do most oil companies wait until several days later to cut their prices? If Phoenix Petroleum can do it on Saturday, why do others delay? Is it because of “operational adjustments” or just “plain insatiable corporate greed?”
Another question: Why is gasoline cheaper by P11 per liter in nearby Malolos and other areas in Bulacan compared to Metro Manila? The same is also true for diesel which is lower by P8 per liter in some parts of the province.
It is the responsibility of the joint task force of the energy and justice departments to give the public the right answers to these questions. Their officials should wake up from their self-imposed hibernation. Unless, of course, they are now “allies” of the oil companies instead of the people.
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Finally, a third telco player is coming — Mislatel, in partnership with China Telecom. The selection of the consortium was officially announced by the National Telecommunications Commission in a resolution.
As they say, the telco-serye of press releases from both losers and winners has ended. Now, we must focus on the real issues. The duopoly of PLDT-Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom will now have a “serious competitor” in the form of a company that has “foreign backing” and “international backbone.”
But can Mislatel-China Telecom deliver on the promised 27 megabits per second internet speed in its first year of operation and 55 Mbps through the second and fifth years?
OpenSignal, a mobile analytics company, says the downloading speed of PLDT-Smart nationwide for May and June this year is only at 13.09 Mbps compared to Globe’s 7.34 Mbps.
Perhaps, the fulfillment of Mislatel’s promise is another telco-serye.
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Congratulations to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Palace for continually pursuing our dream of “minimum credible defense” against foreign invaders and internal enemies.
We successfully tested our Israeli-made “surface-to-surface missiles” fired from an attack helicopter and a moving seacraft.
Now, we can stop bigger enemy ships or aircraft that might try to challenge our territorial waters.
Early this year, foreign policy think tank Lowy Institute says the Philippines has the weakest military capability in Asia-Pacific (19th out of 25).
This is sad but hopefully, there will be an improvement as I hope the AFP will get its first submarine in addition to multirole fighter aircraft, long-range patrol aircraft plus frigates, cruisers and destroyers within the next three years.
I salute our soldiers and the AFP!
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