CEBU CITY, Philippines ? Cebu?s top officials took Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes to task for what they said was Reyes?s defense of oil firms that are under fire for fuel prices that are higher in the province than in Metro Manila.

The House energy committee, chaired by Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel ?Mikey? Arroyo, held a hearing here over fuel costs that brought Reyes face to face with the province?s officials.

Fuel prices in Cebu were at least P5 per liter higher than in Metro Manila and Davao.

While repeatedly saying he was not ?lawyering? for anyone, Reyes?s words during the hearing were taken as a defense of the oil companies.

On high fuel prices in Cebu, Reyes said there could be several reasons.

First, he said, Cebu doesn?t have an oil storage facility like Davao City, where oil prices are lower.

His solution? Cebu, he said, should invite more players ?in the downstream oil industry so there will be competition in the market.?

?And then provide the terminals so that the goods can come here directly and you have storage,? said Reyes, a former general who has occupied at least three other Cabinet positions in the past.

?Then you can hopefully reduce the difference (in prices),? he said.

Second, said Reyes, prices in other areas, like Subic and Cagayan de Oro City, could be lower because of smuggling.

?We are all against smuggling. But it is a reality that when there is smuggling, it can drive prices down although unfairly,? he said.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia reacted sharply.

?I think I have heard enough to be alarmed,? she said at the hearing.

She said that while Reyes insists he was not biased in favor of oil firms, ?we are led to believe that you (Reyes) are in fact explaining the positions of these oil companies.?

Reyes?s position on prices, she said, was ?totally inappropriate.?

The governor?s brother, Representative Pablo John Garcia, also noted that Reyes, in his presentation of statistics, appeared to say that oil prices here were reasonable.

Reyes?s presentation jibed with those of officials of Petron Corp, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., and Chevron Phils. Inc. (Caltex) who said prices were based on market forces, competition, and transport costs.