Oil price rollback today; transport groups want more

MANILA, Philippines — Oil firms are reducing pump prices anew today, the seventh consecutive week of price rollback for diesel and the second in a row for gasoline.

In separate advisories yesterday, oil firms said diesel prices would drop by P1.05 per liter, gasoline prices by P0.10 per liter and kerosene prices by P0.45 per liter.

This week’s round of rollback reflects the movements in the international oil market.

The price adjustments will take effect at 6 a.m. today for most oil firms, except for Caltex and Cleanfuel which will implement the adjustments starting at 12:01 a.m. and 8:01 a.m., respectively.

Last week, motorists saw a bigger reduction in pump prices as compared to this week.

Oil firms last week slashed diesel prices by P2.20 per liter, gasoline by P2.10 per liter and kerosene by P2.55 per liter.

These resulted in year-to-date total adjustments of a net increase of P17.55 per liter for gasoline, P30.15 per liter for diesel and P24.75 per liter for kerosene, based on the latest data of the Department of Energy.

Call for more rollbacks

While public utility vehicle (PUV) operators and drivers welcome the series of price rollbacks in the past weeks, the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) said there was a need to enact more in order to give reprieve to commuters and consumers.

“For our part, the price of oil products per liter is still high… That’s why if we look at it, the prices could still be slashed so we can help not only the transport sector, but also other people,” Piston national president Modesto Floranda said in a radio interview.

Ricardo Rebaño, chairman of the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP), said if a significant decrease in oil prices is enacted, PUV operators and drivers may be able to ask the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to remove the P1 provisional increase in the minimum fare.

Meanwhile, Piston and FEJODAP also called on the government to reopen more routes, especially those passing by schools in order to help students who are expected to return to in-person classes next week cope with the shortage of public transport options.

Rebaño said cities with big school districts like Manila and Quezon City need more public transportation.

“The routes still aren’t back to normal… In particular, these routes are near schools like the Blumentritt/Dimasalang-Quiapo route or the Pandacan-Leon Guinto route which are near schools,” he said.

Both PISTON and FEJODAP said there was still about 20 percent of their members who haven’t gone back to operating jeepneys because of unopened routes. – Neil Jayson Servallos