HISTORIC FUEL PRICE HIKE EXPOSES OIL DEREGULATION FAILURE, MARCOS INACTION, AND OIL CARTEL GREED

We, the Makabayan bloc, condemn the oil cartel’s shameless exploitation of the crisis in Iran and West Asia to manipulate pump prices and squeeze superprofits from a people already drowning in hunger wages and soaring costs of living. This price shock, the biggest since the Oil Deregulation Law took effect in 1998, exposes the brutal reality that deregulation did not create competition; it consolidated corporate power, enabled coordinated price increases, and left the public defenseless.

Fuel prices saw their highest single-week adjustment this week by as much as P38.50 per liter. The increase in diesel prices ranged from P17.50 to P24.25 a liter, with fuel retailers splitting the adjustments into two to seven tranches, while gasoline prices were more expensive by P7 to P13 a liter starting Tuesday. The upward adjustment for kerosene, widely used for cooking, heating as well as in aviation, ranged from P32 to P38.50 a liter.

We condemn the Marcos Jr. administration for failing to act fast and decisively in the face of this historic oil price hike. Token show-cause orders, moral lectures against “profiteering,” and threats of legal action ring hollow when government policy itself guarantees oil firms the freedom to pass on every shock, pad margins, and stagger increases at will. The staggered increase is also a joke since it will only be spread via 3 consecutive days. Hindi makatwirang magbanta sa ilang gasolinahan habang pinananatili ang mismong batas na nagluluwag sa kartel at nagkakadena sa mamamayan.

We reject the cruel line that the public should simply tighten belts and conserve fuel while millions are already forced to skip meals, accept punishing commutes, and stretch impossible budgets. Ipinapasa sa tao ang hamon na magtipid habang kumakamal ng supertubo ang kartel at kinukulimbat ng mga burukrata-kapitalista ang buwis at pondo ng pamahalaan. The administration’s talk of emergency powers is a smokescreen for its own lack of planning and its refusal to confront the oil cartel and the failed deregulation framework.

We press for immediate, concrete, and pro-people measures: remove excise taxes on oil; remove VAT on petroleum products; scrap the Oil Deregulation Law; hold corrupt officials and profiteers accountable; raise wages to match the spiraling cost of living; and stop the US-Israel bombing and war that fuels instability, price shocks, and human catastrophe. Kagyat na ipatupad ang totoong price relief, hindi paimbabaw na paalala at panandaliang limos.

We are preparing for a major protest at Mendiola on March 27, Friday, to hold the US-Marcos Jr. regime accountable for worsening poverty and economic crisis, for its incompetence amid runaway prices, and for policies that favor big business and foreign interests over Filipino families. Singilin ang rehimen sa pananagutan at ipaglaban ang agarang ginhawa at pangmatagalang solusyon. ###