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CEBU CITY, Philippines – Here’s two welcome news for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) clients, drivers and commuters.
Two LPG groups will cut prices by P1 and P2 per kilogram and a possible fare rollback as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is set to discuss the issue on Wednesday in Manila.
LPG supplier Liquigaz and the LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA) announced they will reduce prices of their products starting past midnight on Tuesday.
Liquigaz will bring prices down by P2 per kilogram (kg) while LPGMA members will cut prices of cooking gas by P1 a kg and of auto LPG by P1 a liter due to a huge drop in the international contract price of LPG in December.
LPGMA president Arnel Ty said the LPG contract price plunged to $341 per metric ton (MT) this month from $490 per MT in November.
Major oil firms Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Total (Philippines) Corp. have yet to announce their own LPG price reduction as of press time.
Last month alone, LPGMA slashed prices by P12 per kg: by P3 on November 1; P1 on November 4, 7 and 11; P4 on November 14 and P2 on November 21.
An 11-kg LPG cylinder now costs between P429.40 and P495.40.
Price cuts are also being implemented by oil companies.
Eastern Petroleum Corp. at noon on Monday reduced prices of gasoline by P2 a liter and diesel by P1 a liter
This effectively matched the price reductions of P5 a liter for gasoline and P2 a liter for diesel implemented by competitors Petron, Shell, Total, Chevron Philippines Inc., PTT Philippines Corp., Flying V and Seaoil Philippines Inc. over the weekend.
The weekend price cuts brought pump prices in Metro Manila of unleaded gasoline to between P29.57 and P36.15 a liter, diesel to between P32.47 and P41.50 a liter, and kerosene to between P39.15 and P45.15 a liter.
Meanwhile, Dondon Ibo, spokesman of LTFRB in Central Visayas, said that the rollback will depend on the outcome of the hearing.
He said that the LTFRB board will decide on how much the fare would be adjusted, depending on the arguments of the petitioners composed of the commuters.
He said the prices of gasoline have indeed gone down in the last few weeks.
He told Cebu Daily News that the drivers assured him that they would obey whatever decision the LTFRB board would agree on during the hearing.
He said that as soon as the board could decide on how much the fare rollback would be, then the LTFRB would start making the new tariffs.
He said making the tariffs would take only a day but the printing and the giving of the tariffs to the driver would take a longer time.
The tariffs are free but the jeepney operators need to get one from the LTFRB office and place them on their jeepneys. /Inquirer with a report from Correspondent Ador V. Mayol
