When is it going to end?
After a day of raising diesel prices by 3 pesos, Petron and Shell agreed to lower pump prices by 1.50/liter. Malacanang announced the rollback after news reports reached the palace that transport groups have called for a strike and thousands of angry motorists condemned the government.
This is odd since global oil prices have actually been dropping. Today, crude prices are in the US$ 138 per barrel levels, lower by about US$ 10/barrel. So, what’s the reason for this price hike this week?
And if oil companies can very well lower their diesel pump prices by 1.50/liter, that only means one thing–that stupid 3 pesos per liter is actually an overpriced one!
What the palace has not realized yet is this–there’s actually a psychological threshold in all of this. There’s a limit to what the public can actually tolerate and that is a 60 plus pesos per liter worth of diesel. If oil companies breach this, then, all hell would definitely break loose.
Government must be forewarned that should diesel prices go up as high as 60 pesos per liter, there’s a ripple effect. Food prices will go up. Transport groups will again call for a fee hike. And more and more people will definitely find it very difficult to survive.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary response. Government should implement another pay hike. I know that the law prohibits it, but government does not have any choice. Between the devil and the deep blue sea, government must find solutions and fast!
Alex
1 year ago
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!