EDITORIAL - Higher airfares

Shuttling regularly by air between Manila and his home city of Davao, President Duterte is starting to feel the pain of rising airfares. And the rates are expected to increase further after the Civil Aeronautics Board approved recently the reimposition of fuel surcharges, three years after this was disallowed.

Airline companies sought the return of the surcharges as crude oil prices surged in the world market in the same year that the government slapped a hefty excise tax on fuel under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law. As of last April, aviation fuel had risen to $85.16 per barrel from $63.66 during the same period in 2017.

Government authorities have refrained from pinning the blame for the nine-year-high inflation rate on the tax reform law and the fuel excise tax as the administration pushes for TRAIN 2. But the higher airfare is just the latest consequence of the combination of high crude oil prices and the fuel excise tax.

Steeper airfares mean additional costs for both passengers and cargo. Taxpayers will see a surge in the expenditures for the domestic travels of public officials, including congressmen who also shuttle regularly between their districts and Metro Manila.

Inevitably, the higher logistics costs are passed on to consumers. Goods that must be transported quickly by air even within the country are sure to cost more. Among these are highly perishable food products and many frozen items.

This is certain to further kick up inflation figures, as food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for the biggest component of the latest inflation rate. As the President personally monitored relief efforts in the wake of Typhoon Ompong yesterday, his transport secretary pointed out that transportation is a major component in food costs.

The country cannot do anything about world crude oil prices, but the government can do something about the fuel excise tax. With economic managers refusing to budge on this, however, and the President listening to them, there is little relief in sight for surging food costs.