More and more motorists are finding it harder to cope with the current spike in oil prices in the country.
Car owners who now find the current P80 to P90 range in petroleum prices too costly for even a short drive to the supermarket have been switching to public transport in the last few weeks.
The trouble is, many jeepney and tricycle operators have also reportedly halting their operations due to the high fuel costs.
In San Pedro City alone, long lines of commuters are now a common sight along the National Highway, especially during rush hour.
Jeepney and tricycle drivers I’ve talked to have complained that they can barely “break even” with their daily earnings – meaning that they almost always have no money left for miscellaneous costs like maintenance, much less even feeding their families for a day.
Despite glib assurances by officials from the Department of Energy that the government is doing its part through discounts and fuel subsidies, drivers say it ought to do more proactive measures, such as suspending excise taxes or value-added taxes on oil products.
-o0o-
And yet, the government’s “spin talkers” have managed to make it sound like zooming oil prices are beneficial for us all.
According to some news articles, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the high cost of petroleum products has translated to fewer cars on the streets.
Based on the MMDA’s monitoring at EDSA, there were only 392,000 vehicles plying EDSA on June 9, or significantly fewer than the 417,000 vehicles passing through Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfare on May 5.
“Nabawasan and I think may epekto po yung pagtaas ng presyo ng gasolina at krudo. ‘Yung mga may sasakyan instead na magdala pa ng mga vehicles na sarili at pribado ay sumasakay na lamang sa pampublikong transportasyon,” MMDA Chairman Romando Artes was quoted by media as saying.
Does the guy realize that it meant that more and more Filipinos are unable to contribute to the economy due to the high price of oil products?
Also, that last statement where he said that motorists are now using public transportation is a problem in itself.
Despite the fact that MRT-3 and the EDSA Busway now offer free rides, the sudden surge in commuter ridership meant that the old woes of commuters having to endure long lines just to get a ride to work and back home are – well, back.
Commuters, honestly, are back at square one before the pandemic (I was reminded of this photo I took in 2019 of people crowding the EDSA-Ayala southbound bus stop, which went viral on social media).
Here’s a question to government officials: how can torturing our commuters be considered a “positive” thing?