"Competitors cannot be in collusion with one another,'' Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA) Chairman Fernando Martinez said Saturday.

“That’s why we’re called competitors in the first place,” Martinez told the Manila Bulletin obviously irate at allegations made by the Social Justice Society (SJS) that small oil players comprising the IPPCA are in cahoots with oil giants Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp. and Chevron Philippines.

Lawyer Vladimir Cabigao of SJS earlier this week claimed that independent oil companies are colluding with the so-called “Big Three” in controlling fuel prices, with the lawyer taking cues from the oil firms’ always synchronized and uniform price adjustments.

But Martinez said the big oil players do not exactly view smaller oil firms as their chums. “We are competing with them (Big Three). In fact, we are eating into their market."