Editorial | June 28, 2022
Continuous fuel price hike has inched even closer to the P100.00 mark. An early advisory indicates that another set of fuel price hike on the last week of June would make diesel fuel potentially breach P100.00.
As the nation eagerly count the days heading into the incoming Marcos administration, the Filipino worker once again was lashed with successive price hikes credited to the soaring fuel prices. And once again, fuel proves to be the commanding commodity in the market.
The recent hike also is brought by the weakening of the peso against the dollar. This means the country must brace itself for another wave of inflation as it will take more pesos to import basic commodities like oil.
Such weakening of the peso could provoke rate hikes of basic utilities too. Electricity, water and telecoms rates will be vulnerable to increase as added costs of foreign exchange adjustments loom.
With the peso weakening and the ongoing, albeit, prolonged Ruso-Ukraine crises that resulted in expensive oil prices in the global market, the ordinary Juan has no choice but to tighten its already famished pocket.
The incoming administration will be hard-pressed to keep local supply of basic commodities available and sustainable. Prices of rice, sugar, and livestock products must be kept affordable and stable while producers sector must be attended and monitored closely. The producers who relied heavily on diesel-fired machineries; farmers, fisherfolk, poultry and livestock raisers, and vegetable farmers must be prioritized with either financial or technical subsidies as to cushion the effects of the inflation in the production fields.
The incoming administration must also keep tabs on securing buffer funds to ensure production won’t be hampered during disasters, especially as the country is entering the rainy season. Not to be outdone, the needs of prepositioning and addressing possible disease outbreaks must be secured. There is still that lingering threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
The ill-effects of this continuous oil price hike will pose a potent challenge to the recovering Filipino economy. The transport sector will be forced to seek for fare hikes to compensate for high fuel prices. Local government units must be equally creative and humane in carving economic antidotes to this problem while its national counterparts must explore expanding the Pantawid Pasada fuel subsidy program.
On the brighter side, the government must explore how to navigate this storm in dollar-earning sectors that will benefit from this high-exchange rate. The tourism sector and BPOs, among others, are seen to benefit from this high exchange rate. However, the government must secure that the transport sector serving tourist destinations must be attended religiously.
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