CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) should have first reviewed its high personnel costs and made its oil purchasing contracts transparent, the pan-green camp said yesterday after the state-run firm hiked fuel prices.
The prices of gasoline and diesel products rose by an average of 10.7 percent yesterday, the steepest pace in nearly four years, following a decision by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Sunday to end a cap on fuel-price increases.
The ministry said the increase represented a “normalization” of prices and a solution for CPC’s recent losses.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsun, Taipei Times
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said while it does not oppose reasonable fuel-price increases, the decision should have been made after CPC reviewed its high personnel costs and disclosed its oil purchasing contracts, which have never been made public.
“If CPC fails to act on these suggestions, the DPP will not rule out boycotting the company’s budget,” DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) told a press conference.
“The company has refused to review its floating fuel price mechanism and it is using taxpayers like an ATM, squeezing money out of them whenever it is in the red,” Pan said.
The fuel price increases, as well as hikes to electricity and water costs which are reportedly being considered by the ministry, could push up inflation, Pan added.
“How many companies can distribute year-end bonuses that are equivalent to 4.6 months of pay to every employee, regardless of whether the company makes a profit or not?” DPP Legislator Tsai Chih-chang (蔡其昌) asked.
CPC should stop keeping its oil purchasing agreements opaque by citing confidentiality, Tsai added.
DPP Legislator Yang Yao (楊曜) of Penghu, where many residents earn a living by fishing, said the fuel price increase would have a huge impact on the fishing industry, which is already suffering.
Commodity price increases have been the norm since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008, DPP lawmakers Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) and Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said, adding that Ma should have told the public about plans for the fuel price hike prior to the presidential election.
The price of liquefied natural gas has risen by 33.93 percent since May 2008, while natural gas is up 32.5 percent, gasoline is up 5.64 percent and electricity rates could rise by 50.47 percent, Hsu said.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-hsiang (施顏祥) should step down over his failure to present countermeasures to rising commodity prices.
The TSU also urged that the privatization of CPC be sped up.
TSU party whip Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said CPC Corp is misleading the public when it says that personnel costs only account for 2.2 percent of its total costs because the firm’s large operating scale distorts the comparison.
About 46 percent of CPC employees receive an annual salary of NT$1 million (US$33,900) or more, with more than 1,100 employees earning more than NT$86,000 a month, Hsu said.
In response, Shih said the government had no choice but to impose the substantial hike.
CPC has incurred enormous loses because domestic fuel prices have been lower than actual market prices for many years, Shih told reporters at the legislature.
CPC’s financial burden is a “hidden debt” on the government’s shoulders, he said.
“We cannot let the situation go on, so the decision was necessary,” he said.
Shih said if the increase was not implemented, the public would eventually have to foot the bill for CPC’s debt, which he said stood at several tens of billions of NT dollars.
Meanwhile, Fair Trade Commission Chairman Wu Shiow-ming (吳秀明) said that as long as Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) had not discussed any price adjustments beforehand with CPC, the two businesses had not violated fair trade laws.
Additional reporting by CNA
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS