Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio questioned the absence of a price freeze on products such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene amid the declaration of a State of National Energy Emergency by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“Dapat maprotektahan, automatically ang mga consumers dito sa, sabi nga rito pinakamalaking price shock sa mga consumers ay yung pagtaas ng LPG,” the lawmaker expressed.

(Consumers should automatically be protected from what has been described as the biggest consumer shock for consumers due to the rise in LPG prices in the market.)

Tinio made his remarks following a presentation from the Department of Energy (DOE) that revealed that the price of LPG caused “the biggest consumer shock” among all fuel products in a joint committee hearing at the House of Representatives this Monday.

According to the statistics of the energy agency, the cost of LPG had gone up by P243.50 from March to April, translating to a month-on-month increase of 45 percent.

Kerosene, on the other hand, saw a net increase of P70 to P71 per liter since the start of the year.

Tinio maintained that a price freeze should have automatically kicked in after Marcos signed into law Executive Order 110 last March 24, based on the conditions indicated in Section 6, or the Automatic Price Control under the Price Act of 1992.

“Unless otherwise declared by the President, prices of basic necessities in an area shall automatically be frozen at their prevailing prices or placed under automatic price control,” the law stated.

One of the circumstances stated in the provision was a declaration of a particular area under an emergency.

Though not initially included in the list, both LPG and kerosene were later classified as basic necessities through Republic Act No. 10623, promulgated in 2012.

After being questioned multiple times on the issue, DOE Undersecretary Mario Marasigan explained that their job was merely to issue the advisory on a price freeze, not implement it.

“While the advisory comes from the Department of Energy, the actual implementation po nung price freeze is on the concerned agency like for example the DTI,” he said.