DAVAO CITY – The country’s security and peace and order situation is taking the brunt of the spiraling prices of oil and basic goods with inflation rising to a 14-year high of 11.4 percent.
The increasing fuel prices have already crippled the operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) as their respective units’ fuel allocations have drastically been reduced.
The quarterly fuel allocation of a Philippine Army battalion in the south has been reduced from an equivalent of 3,500 liters to only 1,500 liters.
“Our allocation from the national headquarters is not by liters but by a certain fixed budget which in turn would be used to buy fuel. So, the budget is fixed and yet the prices of fuel keep increasing (so) … we get lesser liters for the same amount of money,” a military officer, who requested anonymity, told The STAR.
The same military officer lamented that the situation has already aggravated the already pitiful condition of soldiers in the frontline.
“What would come out of this is we would have soldiers who would be doing more foot patrol and pursuing the enemies on foot. Or our soldiers would just be waiting for the enemies to attack them in their quarters because they could not move for lack of fuel,” the military officer said.
Aside from the fuel, the soldiers’ food and other needs while on duty have also been affected.
Maj. Gen. Leo Jogy Fojas, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Battalion based in this city, confirmed the problems brought about by the rising fuel costs to the military operations in the area, especially in Southern Mindanao where communist guerrillas have lately gained significant momentum against government forces.
“Definitely, we are affected by the rising costs of fuel. But we cannot do anything about it. It is our national leadership that can do something about it because we only get what the higher headquarters would give us in terms of budget,” Fojas said.
But he pointed out that the military would make do with what is available to them.
Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II, Southern Mindanao police director, also admitted that the spiraling fuel costs have also affected the aspect of law enforcement.
“What we get is already a fixed amount from the General Appropriations Act unless we could come up with a supplemental budget that could be used to purchase more liters of fuel,” Caro said.
The regional police director said the various police units in Southern Mindanao have also been urged to undertake conservation measures.
He also asked local governments to extend support to their respective police units.
But both Caro and Fojas agreed that they could not blame lack of fuel if they fail in their jobs.