Editorial - What goes up does not necessarily come down

Pump prices of petroleum products have been steadily going down. But prices of other commodities that went up as a result of escalating oil prices, most notably transport fares, have not correspondingly dropped.

What is happening should make a good case study on corporate integrity and business ethics. It should provide a good lesson to learn from, that while certain sectors are too quick to scream in pain over their own agony, they are not as quick to respond to the agony of others.

Take for instance the prices of sardines. Oil prices have been steadily dropping for about a month. But sardine producers have not slashed their prices, claiming present inventories date back to the time when oil prices were high.

That, off course, is a lot of bull. Everyone knows that sardines are being manufactured everyday. As a staple in the poor man's diet, canned sardines are among the fastest selling items in supermarkets and in sari-sari stores. Inventories seldom last very long.

Most exasperating, however, is the transport sector, whose members have no qualms going on strike and making innocent people suffer whenever they need to raise fares when oil prices soar. But look what is happening now that oil prices are down. They reject any cuts in fares.

It is useless to plead or argue with the transport sector. They simply do not share the same wavelength with the rest of society. Just look at the way public transport drivers drive and you know they are simply different.

So let this be a lesson to all, especially government which has some power over prices. Let us learn from the reality that when oil prices rise, the prices of everything else follow. But when oil prices drop, the prices of everything else remain the same.

The lesson should henceforth teach us to disallow, if it can be helped, any corresponding increases in other items each time oil prices rise. Once oil prices go down and no corresponding effect registers in other goods, go after the culprits, or boycott their products.

If government cannot enforce what is just and right, then maybe the people can take matters into their own hands without resorting to anything unlawful or violent. If drivers can arbitrarily strike anytime, so can passengers in more imaginative ways than one.