MANILA, Philippines – Ramon Ang, one of the richest Filipino tycoons, has a proposal to curb pesky inflation: protect the West Philippine Sea and further tap its gas reserves.

In an economic forum on Monday, May 27, government economic managers discussed the ways to bring inflation within target range, including managing interest rates and addressing supply chain bottlenecks.

Play Video

When the audience got the opportunity to ask the economic team, which included Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Ang stood up to comment on the issue.

“As you know, we, San Miguel and Petron is in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the prices of gasoline is P20 per liter. In the Philippines, it’s 60. [The reason is] Malaysia subsidized one-third [of the price]. The other one-third is taxes. Philippine government imposes taxes. Our neighboring countries don’t impose taxes,” Ang said.

Ang went on to explain that when looking at prices “on an equal basis,” oil prices without subsidy and taxes are lower in the Philippines than in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. The same goes for power rates, according to Ang.

“Our power generation compared to our neighboring countries are lower. But we impose taxes on the power sector, on fuel. And we also don’t [have subsidies]. We don’t give subsidies on power. That’s why our power prices are higher,” Ang said.

Ang explained that neighboring countries are able to subsidize prices because they are oil-producing countries. He said that the Philippines only produces 6,000 barrels of oil per day, compared to others which can produce up to 1 million barrels per day.

“The Philippines, we don’t have oil. But we have a very big reserve in the West Philippine Sea. That’s why they are very interested in the Philippines. So, let us not let go of it. We should protect our territory,” Ang said.

Ang’s remarks come as tensions in the West Philippine Sea have escalated and the Philippines faces a power crisis amid what some analysts say is depletion of the Malampaya gas field.

Tycoons, in general, have avoided talking about the matter. – Rappler.com