Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. __________ 
Introduced by 
PHILRECA Party-List Representative Presley C. De Jesus, 
APEC Party-List Representative Sergio C. Dagooc 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
In 1998, Republic Act No. 8479, otherwise known as “Downstream Oil 
Industry Deregulation Act”, was enacted to liberalize the flow of crude oil and 
petroleum products into the country by way of imposing a lax approach in 
supplier qualifications. Yet, it fails to account for the undue and unreasonable 
increase in fuel prices, spanning from its effectivity up to the present time.  
In 2001, Republic Act No. 9136 (EPIRA) deregulated the generation sector to 
encourage private companies to take part in power generation and provide for 
competitive prices to attain more affordable electricity. The deregulation in 
R.A. 8479, however, did not include government pricing control for oil used 
by the generation companies. Despite the creation of the Energy Regulatory 
Commission (ERC) under the EPIRA, which is tasked to investigate any 
violation of laws which affect the energy sector, it still lacks jurisdiction over 
entities that provide power generation inputs, such as oil suppliers. There is 
a direct relationship between oil prices and electricity prices; any increase in 
oil prices, will undauntedly result to an increase in the generation cost of 
electricity and passed on to the electric consumers. 
Furthermore, pursuant to Section 38 of the EPIRA, the ERC was created as 
an independent, quasi-judicial regulatory body. Under the same statute, the 
ERC shall promote competition, encourage market development, ensure 
customer choice and penalize abuse of market power in the electricity 
industry. To achieve the Act’s legislative intent, it is empowered to promulgate 
necessary rules and regulations, and impose fines or penalties for any non-
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compliance with or breach of the EPIRA, its IRR, and other relevant laws 
which it is mandated to implement1. 
 
Wherefore, it is imperative that we establish the jurisdiction of both the 
Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department on Energy, to investigate 
and monitor matters related to the variable pricing of fuel and petroleum 
products charged by power generation companies. The jurisdiction of the ERC 
and DOE over oil providers under this proposed bill is limited for fact-finding 
purposes. With the current mark-up on fuel and petroleum goods, the 
penalties and fines indicated in RA 8479 can be considered as measly change 
to oil suppliers. There is a need to reinforce the sanctions and increase the 
amounts stated in the RA 8479 to deter and prevent any attempt in oil price 
control.  
 
 
In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
 
 
 
 
     
 
 
 
 
 
   PRESLEY C. DE JESUS 
   
 
 
 
 
 
   PHILRECA Party-List Representative 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   SERGIO C. DAGOOC 
 
 
 
 
 
   APEC Party-List Representative 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1 Section 43, EPIRA 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. __________ 
Introduced by  
PHILRECA Party List Representative Presley C. De Jesus, 
APEC Party List Representative Sergio C. Dagooc 
AN ACT  
EMPOWERING THE ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION IN 
MONITORING OIL PRICES CHARGED TO OIL-BASED POWER 
GENERATION FACILITIES, AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8479, 
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE DOWNSTREAM OIL DEREGULATION ACT 
OF 1998 FOR THAT PURPOSE 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the Philippines 
in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Section 14 of Republic Act No. 8479 is hereby amended to 
1 
read as follows: 
2 
a) The DOE shall monitor and publish daily international crude
3 
oil prices, as well as follow the movements of domestic oil prices.
4 
The publication of the prices shall either be in a newspaper
5 
of general circulation or online.  It shall likewise monitor the
6 
quality of petroleum products and stop the operation of
7 
businesses involved in the sale of petroleum products with the
8 
national standards of quality that are aligned with the
9 
international standards/protocols of quality. The Bureau of
10 
Product Standards (BPS) of the DTI, together with the
11 
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
12 
the DOE, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST),
13 
representatives of the fuel and automotive industries and the
14 
consumers, shall set the specifications for all types of fuel and
15 
fuel-related products to improve fuel composition for increased
16 
efficiency and reduced emissions. The BPS shall also specify the
17 
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allowable content of additives in all types of fuels and fuel-
1 
related products. 
2 
XXX XXX 
3 
d) Any report from any person of an unreasonable rise in the 
4 
prices of petroleum products shall be immediately acted upon. 
5 
For this purpose, the creation of DOE-DOJ Task Force is hereby 
6 
mandated to determine within thirty (30)  fifteen (15) days the 
7 
merits of the report and initiate the necessary actions warranted 
8 
under the circumstances: Provided, That nothing herein shall 
9 
prevent the said task force from investigating and/or filing the 
10 
necessary complaint with the proper court or agency moto 
11 
propio; Provided, that any undue and unreasonable delay as 
12 
to the investigation, caused by the reported party, whether 
13 
directly or indirectly, shall be punishable under Section 24 
14 
of this Act; Provided further that, in case of any discrepancy 
15 
on the capital recovery factor pertaining to fuel costs used 
16 
by oil-based power generation companies, as compared to 
17 
the prices published under subsection (a) of this provision, 
18 
shall vest original and concurrent jurisdiction to the Energy 
19 
Regulatory Commission and Department of Energy. 
20 
SECTION 2. Section 24 of Republic Act No. 8479 shall be amended as 
21 
follows: 
22 
SEC. 24. Penal Sanction. – Any person who violates any of the 
23 
provisions of this Act shall suffer the penalty of three (3) six (6) 
24 
months to one (1) 6 years imprisonment and a fine ranging 
25 
from 
Fifty 
Five 
hundred 
thousand 
pesos 
(P50,000.00) 
26 
(P500,000) to Three hundred thousand Three million pesos 
27 
(P3,000,000.00). 
28 
SECTION 3. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules and 
29 
regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are 
30 
hereby amended or repealed accordingly.  
31 
SECTION 4. Separability Clause. - The provisions of this Act are 
32 
hereby declared separable. In the event that any provision hereof is rendered 
33 
unconstitutional, those that are not affected shall remain valid and effective.  
34 
SECTION 5. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
35 
following its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general 
36 
circulation 
37 
Approved, 
38