PERHAPS our minds are too preoccupied with the pandemic second to the election fever that is causing too much fanfare since the start of the campaign period for the national positions. The public’s attention has shifted to politics and we tend to see less the rising cost of fuel, the increasing price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the cost of meat and other prime commodities, among others.
The country’s economy has received a major blow in the recent two years due to the current health menace. The world may be healing a little, but the negative impact of the virus is still reeling among us.
Aside from the pandemic, paralyzing the economy is the rising cost of fuel since January of this year. The price of fuel and other oil-related products is steadily rising. Gasoline and diesel prices soar with a net increase of almost P10 since the start of the year.
We can expect that oil and petroleum companies would blame the price of fuel in the world market as the culprit, citing the rising cost of the products and its importation. Add to that are the taxes generated from the oil industry by the national and local governments who have to make their revenues too from the use of fuel and other allied products.
Previously, the price of fuel in the country was regulated. To minimize the impact to the economy should there be a price surge in the world market, the national government has its subsidy to somehow soften the impact. The Oil Price Stabilization Fund or the OPSF is there as a standby government subsidy so we can somehow avoid any sudden large increase in the price of fuel.
Time came when the Oil Deregulation Law was enacted. This should have encouraged competition among major players in the industry thus expected to lower their prices and improve their services. The law likewise opened the gates for small players that the government expected to improve the playing field and encourage entrepreneurship among those who wanted to be in the fuel businesses’ sector.
Sadly, the law empowered oil monopolies to overprice and manipulate oil pricing in the country and it’s hurting the public transport sector and private motorists as well. Any increase in the price of fuel and the LPG creates a domino effect in the price of commodities. It jacks up prices of almost anything because of the increase in transport and delivery cost.
Motorists, especially those in public transport, are crying over the recent series of oil price hikes. As they, too, have been affected by the pandemic. They have to endure the high cost of fuel. They can earn a little if not suffer a break even in their everyday efforts to make a living.
Perhaps the cost of fuel may have missed our awareness but it’s really hurting every time we visit gasoline stations for a fuel refill. Since it’s the season of debates and interviews among political aspirants, candidates and interviewers should include the present crisis in the price of fuel among their topics to discuss.
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