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MANILA, Philippines ? While the rise in world oil prices shows no sign of letting up, motorists can still heave a sigh of relief as oil firms Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Flying V decided to reduce the prices of their gasoline products by P1 a liter.
The rollback takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
But news of the gasoline price rollback will not stop Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 Regional Rirector Romulo Bernardes from flying to Manila today to discuss with other regional directors about the implementation of the fare increases for the public utility vehicles.
Bernardes said he will try to present to LTFRB chairman Thompson Lantion the consensus of the different Cebu sectors to peg the minimum fare at P8, even as the LTFRB increase only meant a P7.50 minimum fare for Cebu.
The labor sector, on the other hand, is asking for another wage hike.
Marianito Ventura, national vice-president for the Visayas of the Trade Union of the Philippines and Allied Services (TUPAS), said his members are asking him to file another wage hike petition before the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) 7.
"Several laborers have called to ask me to file a wage hike petition," said Ventura in Cebuano.
But Ventura said he wanted another labor groups to file a new petition for wage increase since he is a labor representative in the wage board.
Ventura said the series of fuel price increases and basic commodities are considered supervening events, that can be used as grounds in filing a new petition for wage increase.
"Anytime they can file provided there is that so-called supervening conditions to justify the increase, klaro na kaayo ang supervening conditions", Ventura said.
In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Flying V chairman and chief executive Ramon Villavicencio said the oil firm had a "comfortable enough? margin from gasoline, enabling it to pass on some relief to motorists using gasoline-fed vehicles.
The same could not be said for diesel, however, as the company still had around P6 a liter worth of under-recoveries to recoup, he said.
"I think it will be better to recover (these under-recoveries) in one blow, because then we can focus our attention on gasoline and provide some relief for those using that fuel," he said.
"The focus has always been on diesel because that's what most of the public transport sector uses. But some consideration needs to be given to gasoline users as well. We always seem to forget the private car owners, some of whom have already given up the use of their cars in favor of public transport due to the high cost of fuel," he added.
If the diesel under-recoveries of P6 a liter could be recouped at one time via a corresponding P6-a-liter increase at the pump, then motorists could expect no more diesel price hikes for the rest of July, he said.
"But I hope international prices don't go up too much in the coming weeks. If that happens, we have no way of assuring that pump prices won't go up in August," he said.
"I really don't want to make projections, so I can only speak of what's happening now. What I can say is that diesel prices are still very high now, so we can't give any rollbacks at this time," he added. According to data from the Department of Energy, the regional benchmark Dubai crude surged to a July average of $138.48 a barrel from $127.82 a barrel last June.
Since the start of 2008, gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices have risen 18 times for a total of P18 a liter for gasoline and P19.50 a liter for diesel and kerosene.
Prices of premium unleaded gasoline are now between P58.75 and P60.98 a liter, diesel between P53 and P54.97, and kerosene between P57.10 and P60.30 a liter, inclusive of the 12-percent value-added tax.
Bernardes said he was told yesterday by LTFRB executive director Emmanuel Mahipos that the minimum fare for Cebu could be P7.50.
"He told me P7.50 but if you remember, we had a consensus at P8 during our public hearing. So perhaps they're just approximating," he said in Cebuano.
If the Cebu fare rate will be officially pegged at P7.50, Bernales said that could still be considered a bonus because the original fare here was P6 (without the two .50 centavos provisional increases), since the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) just approved a P1 increase.
A P7.50 fare would also mean that Cebu jeepney drivers will get a total increase of P1.50 with 50 centavos as a bonus, he said.
Meanwhile, Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association (MCTOA) President Richard Cabucos hailed the government announcement giving them a P10 add-on increase.
Cabucos said they are very thankful that the government has also thought of their situation even if the Cebu taxi operators did not join the Manila taxi operators in filing a petition for fare increase.
MCTOA has a membership of 4,000 operators with a total of 6,000 units in Metro Cebu.
Cabucos said 85 percent of them have converted their engines into LPG-run units since 2006 when the price of gasoline was yet at P25 per liter. At that time, the flagdown rate was already P30.
The price of LPG gas was equivalent to about P19/liter in 2006 until last Saturday, he said, when LPG was approximately at P34.50/liter.
Cabucos said they were actually waiting for the LPG price to reach P35 per liter before asking for a fare increase.
"What they have given us is a big help to our business," he said in Cebuano.
Cabucos, however, said they will be asking for another fare increase once the price will reach P45/liter.
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE 7) Rgional Drector Elias Cayanong, meanwhile, assured that the wage board will study if there's a need to review the current minimum wage.
But before the workers will cry for another wage hike, he said, there are factors that should also be considered.
First, the wage order number 14 has just been implemented last month.
Second, he said, is the effect of the exemption of the income tax for the minimum wage earners, which is equivalent to P34 a day.
"It's premature yet to give pronouncement but we will conduct a study", he said.
Cayanong, who is the chairman of the wage board in the region, said they will discuss this matter in their scheduled meeting on July 31. /Jhunnex Napallacan with Inquirer report
