57peso diesel: a cabbie's rant

I knew I was going to be late if I don't speed up so I haled a taxi, jumped right in and told the driver my destination. It was quiet when all of a sudden the driver said (translated): "57 pesos for diesel". I was amused by the unsolicited remark but what the heck. He continued: "What do they want us to do?". That part alone says it all. Gasoline is dancing at about 59pesos. A few months ago diesel was about 10-15 pesos below gasoline prices. Now the difference is only about 2pesos.

Let's look at recent events: Dubai crude went up to $137.91 per barrel this month from $119.5 in May. While very recent reports say price of fuel is declining, its effect cannot be felt here now. We've already increased our fare from a minimum of 7.50pesos, into an interim of 8pesos, and finally 8.50pesos for the first four kilometers. While almost everybody is burdened from soaring prices (including all basic necessities like food), the big three oil companies are raking in billions of pesos in profit (2007 profits: Pilipinas Shell - Php4.12B, Chevron Philippines (Caltex) - Php2.75B, Petron - Php5.94B)

The driver continued (still translated):"Yesterday, I was going to pay for my electricity bills, I had two thousand pesos on me so I decided to give all of it. But Meralco didn't accept my payment. They said I had to pay for all my arrears. Do they want me to steal from them instead?" I just kept quiet.

I saw this as a snapshot of the Filipino state of mind. What are they really up to against amid the rising cost of living. I just hope we could survive all these.

source of added info:

http://beta.ph.news.yahoo.com/star/20080709/tph-oil-companies-roll-back-541dfb4.html

Philippine Star - Thursday, July 10