COLLEGE EDITORS GUILD OF THE PHILIPPINES cegphils@gmail.

com MEMORANDUM # 3, SERIES OF 2012

ATTENTION: Elected Chapter Officers, Coordinators, Member Publications RE: Campaign against oil price hikes, military surveillance and foreign domination DATE: March 15, 2012 Colleagues, It is a known fact that one of the Guilds prime advocacies is to struggle against foreign domination in all spheres of life. The recent turn of events has justified this stance. Oil price hike As of this moment, the price of gasoline is only two pesos below the highest recorded rate in history, noted in 2008. The price of oil has increased for eight consecutive times during the first months of 2012. LPG has even reached a price of P1,000 per tank. The Aquino government, time and again, has claimed that it cannot do anything with the spate of oil price hikes. The fluctuations in the world market, oil scarcity and political turmoil were to blame for these increases, said our state functionaries, echoing the claims of the giant oil companies. This is one of the most overused lies in history. As campus journalists, we should know how to shatter these myths, and we owe the students the scientific explanation behind the skyrocketing prices of petroleum products. First, the Big Three oil companies (Shell, Petron, Caltex) controls the distribution and production of 80 percent of the oil sold in the country. This means that this 80 percent cannot be affected by the so-called fluctuations in the world market. But, as we have seen, the oil companies are claiming that the speculations in the very unpredictable world market have been causing oil prices to shoot up. In fact, there is a difference of around $75 between the published price of Dubai crude and the actual amount needed to produce a barrel of oil. This difference is equivalent to the Big Threes profit per barrel of oil. The oil companies are free to fix oil prices at any rate they want because the state allows them to do so. The government refuses to scrap the Oil Deregulation Law, which has obviously failed to lower prices contrary to the premise of the law. According to its proponents, the Law, by removing government regulation, will pave way for perfect competition, and companies will be at a race in

decreasing prices to attract consumers. In the 14 years of implementation of the Law, the result was otherwise. Prices have climbed by 400 percent. It only shows that the Aquino administration is pro-cartel and does not have the courage to stand for its constituents, especially if President Benigno Aquino IIIs uncle, Danding Cojuangco, owns a portion of Petron. The freedom of oil companies to jack up prices for the sake of profit is the new face of foreign domination, which many of us has labeled as imperialism. Foreign domination is not only characterized by unchecked monopoly, it is also characterized by the use of force even against civilians, journalists and members of legal, progressive groups. Against foreign domination This April, a total of 6,000 US troops are set to be deployed in the country for the Balikatan, joint training exercises of Filipino and American troops. We view the deployment as part of the Asia Pacific Century, under which the superpower will shift its focus from the Middle East to the Asia Pacific region. It means that US will transfer its troops in the Middle East to key areas in the Pacific, with the Philippines acting as a country-sized military base for the superpower. This new strategy was conceived because the US now faces a grave economic crisis. One of the prerequisites in improving the state of economy is establishing military presence in key regions, and one of its elements is the Balikatan joint exercises. The government has always justified the Balikatan by saying that the US is only trying to help improve the skills of our own armed forces and conduct humanitarian missions. This is not true. The Balikatan is happening because continuing military presence is necessary for securing economic supremacy. Furthermore, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) adopted the worst torture methods and the counterinsurgency schemes of the country from the US troops. This situation is alarming, given the recent cases of military surveillance on and harassment of campus journalists, including the officers of the Guild. These cases signify the fact that the armed forces do not distinguish between armed rebels and members of legal organizations. With the increase in the number of US troops, we fear that such cases of human rights violations may also increase. The oil price hike and the pending deployment of thousands of US troops in the country make it necessary for the Guild to register its stance against foreign domination. Now, more than ever, campus journalists need to explain the reality of imperialism to their fellow students. For our noble advocacy, Trina Melissa Federis National President Pauline Gidget Estella National Deputy Secretary General