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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _____ 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Introduced by Honorable Representatives 
ARLENE D. BROSAS (Gabriela Women’s Party); 
FRANCE L. CASTRO (ACT Teachers Partylist); 
and RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL (Kabataan Partylist) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
AN ACT 
RENATIONALIZING THE PETRON CORPORATION 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Petron Corporation (Petron), which used to be state-owned and controlled, is currently the 
largest and the only publicly listed oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines. As of 
2021, Petron remains the market leader, supplying nearly 30 percent of the country's petroleum 
product requirements. It has over 2,200 retail service stations located nationwide. Petron accounts 
for the largest share, 180,000 of the 290,000-barrel per day of the refining capacity of the country, 
which it produces in its petroleum refinery complex in Limay, Bataan – the largest in the 
Philippines. Petron also operates a fully automated lube oil blending plant in Pandacan, likewise 
the biggest and most advanced of its kind in the Philippines. Moreover, the company controls a 38 
percent market share of the highly socially sensitive liquefied petroleum gas industry (LPG) with its 
LPG brand Gasul.  
Clearly, Petron Corporation dominates the local downstream petroleum industry but its 
ownership has been turned over to private companies, thus, instead of giving benefit to the Filipino 
consumers, the oil company controls local prices in the same way as the big transnational oil 
corporations do, like Exxon-Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron-Texaco (its marketing arm is 
Caltex), British Petroleum (BP), and CFP-Total that almost completely and collusively control oil 
prices worldwide. The company also rakes in superproftits, doubling its consolidated net income to 
P7.71 billion during the first half of 2022 from P3.87 billion from the same period last year.   
Even if the largest oil producing countries (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, and 
China) control 90 percent of the world’s oil reserves, the five (5) transnational oil companies 
mentioned can dictate world prices because they control 60 percent of oil production and hold all 
levels of the market through their vast global network of exploration and exploitation sites, 
partnerships with nationalized oil companies, refineries, pipelines, tankers, and stations. Filipino 
consumers are thus severely dependent on such corporations, which control the exploration, 
exploitation, refining, importation, and retailing of crude and petroleum products from abroad; and 
even the re-exportation of our country’s indigenous petroleum and petroleum-based products. 
August 2, 2022
4:40 pm
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Because subsidiaries under the same corporations are both the buyers (refiners in the 
downstream petroleum industry) and the sellers (producers in the upstream petroleum industry), 
they can fix and pad prices through hidden transfer pricing every step of the way. Estimates show 
that 67% of world trade in oil is done through term contracts, or transactions between subsidiaries 
of the same companies, bypassing exchanges over world markets. 
Such control over pricing has allowed big oil companies in the past to shock the globe with 
the highest ever world oil prices. The relentless increases have allegedly been caused by rising 
demand, particularly by Chinese and Indian markets; the lack of spare supply capacity; political 
tensions in the Middle East and North Africa; the financial crisis of now government-sequestered, 
Russian oil giant Yukos; stricter environmental regulations, especially in the United States; and 
scarcer oil. But these factors explain only to a certain degree the latest surge in world oil prices; 
they do not explain why oil prices are high to begin with. These popular claims rule out the control 
and influence of giant transnational oil corporations, which are almost invulnerable to the law of 
supply and demand and to the vagaries of speculation. 
Locally, the Big Three – Petron and the local subsidiaries of Shell and Caltex – claim that 
they have not overpriced based on the price increases of Dubai oil exchanged over the spot 
market and on Peso-Dollar exchange rate fluctuations. Moreover, they have denied the existence 
of a local cartel, alleging that they have merely and coincidentally followed the movements of world 
oil prices. They claim these even as they are minimally affected by prices in world markets and 
even as they are able to trade in the same currency between subsidiaries.  
The privatization, liberalization, and deregulation of the oil industry have allowed oil price 
increases to go unchecked. With petroleum as a sensitive commodity – which price directly affects 
the cost of almost all other commodities and services, including food, housing, social services and 
transportation – deregulation has given transnational oil corporations even more leeway to 
influence the country’s cost of living, livelihoods, business and commerce, employment, and the 
National Budget. 
There is a pressing need for the government to regulate and intervene in the oil industry to 
protect the majority of Filipinos from runaway increases in oil prices. But due to the control of 
monopolistic, transnational corporations, regulation can only be effective and truly beneficial if it is 
part of a program to institutionalize national oil industrialization, so that local oil prices can be 
brought down from the unreasonable and unjustifiable levels set by giant transnational oil 
corporations and can be prevented from falling prey to further monopoly pricing and manipulation. 
This Bill requires, as an imperative for an urgent and long-term response to the looming oil 
crisis, the renationalization of Petron Corporation, so that the valuable government asset can truly 
fulfil the responsibility of the State to ensure public welfare through fair and regulated prices.  
This Bill is part of a range of bills to institute the policy of independence from monopoly 
pricing by transnational oil corporations through the regulation and the gradual industrialization of 
the petroleum industry. The other bills call for: the regulation of the petroleum industry through the 
creation of an oil regulatory council; the creation of a buffer fund solely to cushion drastic increases 
in petroleum prices; the centralized procurement of all imported crude oil and refined petroleum 
products; and the revision of investment, taxation, and other laws. 
This Bill was first filed by Bayan Muna Partylist during the 13th Congress as House Bill No. 
5235. It was refiled in the 14th, 16th and 18th Congresses as HB Nos. 3031, 174, and 244, 
respectively. Immediate approval of this Bill is earnestly sought in the 19th Congress. 


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Approved, 
________________________________ 
Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS 
Gabriela Women’s Party 
________________________________ 
 Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO 
    ACT Teachers Partylist 
________________________________ 
  Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
     Kabataan Partylist 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _____ 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Introduced by Honorable Representatives 
ARLENE D. BROSAS (Gabriela Women’s Party); 
FRANCE L. CASTRO (ACT Teachers Partylist); 
and RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL (Kabataan Partylist) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
AN ACT 
RENATIONALIZING PETRON CORPORATION 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Petron Renationalization Act of 2022.” 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy.-  
I.
Social Justice
Article II, Section X of the 1987 Constitution states: “The State shall promote social justice in all 
phases of national development.” 
Article II, Section XIX of the 1987 Constitution states: “The State shall develop a self-reliant and 
independent national economy effectively controlled by Filipinos.” 
II.
National Economy and Patrimony
Article XII, Section I of the 1987 Constitution states: “The goals of the national economy are a more 
equitable distribution of opportunities, income, and wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of 
goods and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people; and an expanding 
productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially the under-privileged.” 
Article XII, Section XIV of the 1987 Constitution states: “The State shall regulate or prohibit 
monopolies when the public interest so requires. No combinations in restraint of trade or unfair 
competition shall be allowed.” 
Article XII, Section XVIII of the 1987 Constitution states: “The State may, in the interest of national 
welfare or defense, establish and operate vital industries and, upon payment of just compensation, 
transfer to public ownership utilities and other private enterprises to be operated by the 
Government.” 
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Consistent with the foregoing, petroleum and petroleum products, being vital to national security 
and to industrialization and their supply at reasonable prices being essential to the general welfare, 
it is hereby declared to be the policy of the State to renationalize Petron Corporation and align its 
policies to fulfill the following objectives and purposes: 
  
(a) 
To explore, exploit, and promote the exploration and exploitation of indigenous sources of 
petroleum and ensure that locally extracted crude oil, locally refined petroleum, and locally 
processed petroleum products primarily and singularly serve the country’s local petroleum 
requirements; 
 
(b) 
To assure that the country shall have a proper, adequate, and continuous supply of crude 
oil and refined petroleum products under the most economic and competitive terms possible, 
considering all available sources of supply and the country’s total domestic petroleum 
requirements, and for this purpose to engage in the transportation, storage, importation, 
exportation, refining, supply, sale and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum and petroleum 
based products, whether imported or produced by local refineries; 
 
(c) 
To assure the public of reasonable and justified prices for petroleum products; 
 
(d) 
To gradually increase the local petroleum refining capacity; 
 
(e) 
To build the local upstream oil industry by upgrading research and development facilities, 
updating technological expertise, and wholly or jointly finance local petroleum exploration projects; 
 
(f) 
To integrate the local downstream petroleum industry with the developing local upstream oil 
industry; and 
 
(g) 
To encourage the participation of local private capital, technology, and labor. 
 
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms.- 
 
(a) 
“Petroleum” shall refer to the naturally occurring mixture of compounds of hydrogen and 
carbon with a small proportion of impurities and shall include any mineral oil, petroleum gas, 
hydrogen gas, bitumen, asphalt, mineral wax, and all other similar or naturally-associated 
substances, with the exception of coal, peat, bituminous shale and/or other stratified mineral fuel 
deposits;  
 
(b) 
“Crude oil” or “oil” shall be used interchangeably with “petroleum”. 
 
(c) 
“Petroleum products” shall mean products formed in the course of refining crude petroleum 
through distillation, cracking, solvent refining and chemical treatment, coming out as primary stocks 
from the refinery like:  liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha, gasolines, solvents, kerosenes, 
aviation turbine fuels, automatic/industrial diesel oils, industrial/residual fuel oils, waxes and 
petrolatums, asphalts, bitumins, coke and refinery sludges, or such refinery petroleum fractions 
which have not undergone any process or treatment as to produce separate chemically defined 
compounds in a pure or commercially pure state; and to which various substances may have been 
added to render them suitable for particular uses, provided that the resultant product contains not 
less than 50% by weight of such petroleum products. 
 
(d) 
"Philippine national" shall mean a citizen of the Philippines, or a domestic partnership or 
association wholly owned by citizens of the Philippines; or a corporation organized under the laws 
of the Philippines of which at least sixty percent (60%) of the capital stock outstanding and the 


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entitlement to vote is owned and held by citizens of the Philippines; or a corporation organized 
abroad and registered as doing business in the Philippines under the Corporation Code of which 
one hundred percent (100%) of the capital stock outstanding and the entitlement to vote is wholly 
owned by Filipinos or a trustee of funds for pension or other employee retirement or separation 
benefits, where the trustee is a Philippine national and at least sixty percent (60%) of the fund will 
accrue to the benefit of Philippine nationals: Provided, That where a corporation and its non-
Filipino stockholders own stocks in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered 
enterprise, at least sixty percent (60%) of the capital stock outstanding and entitled to vote of each 
of both corporations must be owned and held by citizens of the Philippines and at least sixty 
percent (60%) of the members of the Board of Directors of each of both corporations must be 
citizens of the Philippines, in order that the corporation shall be considered a Philippine national. 
 
SECTION 4. Specific Policy Objectives of Petron.-  The specific policy objectives of Petron 
Corporation to fulfil this declaration of policy shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following: 
 
(a) 
Especially for Petron’s socially and economically sensitive products, such as liquefied 
petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha, gasolines, kerosenes, automatic/industrial diesel oils, and 
industrial/residual fuel oils, to adopt a pricing policy that shall keep the prices of crude oil and 
petroleum products, sold in wholesale or retail to local consumers, as socially and economically 
viable as possible and as allowed by the fulfilment of the objectives of this Act; 
 
(b) 
To control cartel and monopoly pricing, and thus check unreasonably high prices;  
 
(c) 
To raise and promote the local capacity for exploration, refining and exploitation, 
processing, and development of petroleum; 
 
(d) 
Before or after the full nationalization of Petron, or once deemed feasible and cost-effective 
by the Board of Directors of Petron, to invest, through partnerships, joint-ventures, mergers, or 
acquisitions, in entities involved in activities directly related to the policies of Petron provided under 
this Act. Such investments shall prioritize local Philippine nationals and government agencies such 
as the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC); 
 
(e) 
To encourage the participation of local private capital by prioritizing such investments in 
joint ventures it shall undertake consistent with the provisions of this Act; and 
 
(f) 
To prioritize Filipino capital, technology, and labor through the investment decisions and 
conduct of operations of Petron. 
 
 
SECTION 5. Transitory Duty of PNOC upon the Effectivity of this Act.- The Philippine National 
Oil Company (PNOC) shall, upon the first year of effectivity of this Act, reacquire equity in Petron 
Corporation by at least 51% of its total subscribed stocks singularly from the 9% owned and/or 
traded by individuals or from the 40% owned by the Ashmore Group, or from the 50.1% of San 
Miguel Corporation or in a combination of which sum is at least 51% of the total subscribed stocks 
of Petron Corporation.  
 
PNOC shall initially buy back the shares at the Philippine Stock Exchange.  If the minimum 51% is 
not repurchased, the PNOC shall cause the expropriation, subject to just and fair compensation, of 
Petron stocks from Ashmore, San Miguel Corporation or whoever/whichever has 
possession/ownership/control/custody thereof. 
 


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For the first year upon the effectivity of this Act, four billion pesos (PhP4,000,000,000.00) shall be 
appropriated by the National Government for the initial repurchase of Petron stocks.  
 
SECTION 6. Full Nationalization of Petron Corporation.- The Philippine National Oil Company 
(PNOC) shall reacquire 100% ownership of Petron Corporation within a period of four (4) years. 
Reacquisition costs shall mainly be funded by the National Government, through annual budget 
appropriations. The secondary source for the full repurchase shall be the expanding earnings of 
PNOC from its increasing stake in Petron Corporation over the period of reacquisition. 
 
To achieve this objective, the PNOC is hereby required to aggressively and consistently improve 
the operations and income of Petron Corporation in line with the policies of this Act. The eventual 
corporate merger of the PNOC and Petron Corporation shall hereby be a matter of policy. 
 
SECTION 7. General Repealing Clause.- 
 
(a) 
Any and all articles, sections, and provisions under Republic Act No. 8479, otherwise 
known as the “Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998,” contrary or inconsistent with this 
act are hereby repealed. 
 
(b) 
All other laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof 
inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed or amended accordingly. 
 
SECTION 8. Separability Clause.- If, for any reason, any section or provision of this Act is 
declared unconstitutional or invalid, such other sections or provisions not affected thereby shall 
remain in full force and effect. 
 
SECTION 9. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen days after its complete publication in at 
least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation. 
 
Approved,