What about us?

Fuel prices went up again earlier this week, and it seems like OPH (oil price hike) will be a fact of life for us for the near future. Diesel has hit P90 per liter, an unthinkable amount just a few months ago.

In March, when prices started soaring, P2.5 billion was released for fuel ayuda to 377,000 public utility drivers. In April another P2.5 billion was released, this time sourced from the VAT on oil, which raked in record high amounts since the prices hit record highs.

The P6,500 each driver received for the month translates to about 75 liters of diesel (at P90/liter); how many days on the road does that give them? There are calls for a third round of fuel ayuda for PUV drivers vs calls for a suspension or at least a reduction in taxes on fuel. The latter, the economists argue, would only favor the rich.

True, the rich will indulge their joyrides without a second thought whatever the price of fuel is (bully to them). But what about us, the middle (but sinking lower and lower) class, the working class, those of us forced to use our car or motorcycle because of inadequate or non-existent public transportation, those who need LPG for our little eatery, fuel for our small machinery? Commuting as it is now is hard enough; if PUV drivers, as reported, decide to no longer ply their routes because they can’t afford the costs, it will be even more difficult to get to work, or to anywhere.

World oil prices are beyond our control, but taxes are not. – Gregorio Chua, Cainta, Rizal