BY: VANESSA BUGTONG
Construction worker Mark Anthony rides his motorcycle daily to work.
Out of his 500 pesos daily wage, almost 150 pesos goes to fuel expenses.
The recent increase of over 1 peso per liter is a heavy burden for him.
Mark Anthony, a motorist, expressed, “I wish the price drop would be more significant, not just the increases.”
Taxi driver Jonathan, however, has become accustomed to the fluctuating fuel prices.
Jonathan Baswit, a taxi driver, stated, “It’s always like this. When prices rise by 100 pesos or 200 pesos, we just keep going. It’s always like this, we just have to deal with it.”
Many motorists have developed their own strategies to save, like avoiding traffic.
Yesterday, January 7, the price increase took effect.
There was a 1.40 peso per liter increase for diesel, and 1.00 pesos liter for both gasoline and kerosene.
According to Jetti President Leo Bellas, the hike is due to reduced regional supply caused by lower outflows from China, a major supplier of petroleum products.
Before this hike, however, there was a price rollback last week.
Last week, companies rolled back prices by 0.30 centavo per liter for gasoline and diesel, and 0.90 centavo per liter for kerosene.