|
By Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Reporter
Oil
giants Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and industry
minnow Flying V each will roll back their gasoline prices by P1 per
liter effective today.
If car owners would have a reason
to cheer, so would commuters, at least until the weekend.
A transportation official on
Wednesday said a government-approved fare increase will not be
implemented supposedly effective by Friday.
Emmanuel Mahipus, the executive
director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory
Board, explained that the agency will be ready with the fare matrix
and stickers needed to execute the fare hike only by Monday at the
“earliest.”
Bucking the trend of weekly
pump-price increases for the last couple of months, Flying V
initiated the rollback, announcing it early Wednesday. Petron and
Pilipinas Shell followed suit later in the day.
Ramon Villavicencio, Flying V
chairman, cited the company’s recouping its under-recoveries for
its decision to lower its gasoline prices.
“We have somehow recovered our
margins for gasoline, unlike diesel where we still have to recover
about P6 per liter to become viable,” he said.
Flying V’s rollback of its
gasoline prices was the first such move implemented by an oil firm
since February this year.
Although the move apparently gave
the car owners a break from soaring fuel prices, Villavicencio said
it will not benefit public transport, which is heavily dependent on
diesel. He added that the car owners also needed a reprieve from the
high prices.
Government measures against high
crude prices, such as tariff cuts and loans for engine conversion to
alternative fuels, are seen as aimed at diesel-using
public-transport vehicles.
Since oil firms implemented the
18th pump increase over the weekend, the prevailing domestic price
in Metro Manila of unleaded gasoline has reached P59.10 to P61.07
per liter; kerosene, P57.10 to P60.30 per liter; and diesel, P53 to
P54.97 per liter.
The price of an 11-kilogram
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder has been averaging between
P616.50 and P673.
Early this week, US light crude
went down to $136.04 per barrel after reaching over $140 per barrel
previously as the dollar strengthened and as an anticipated Atlantic
storm cleared away from oil platforms in the area. (See related
front-page story.)
The regional benchmark Dubai
crude rose to $137.91 per barrel in the first week of July from
$127.82 per barrel in June and $119.50 per barrel in May.
Imported gasoline from the region
increased to $145.77 per barrel in July from $140.30 per barrel in
June and $131.13 per barrel in May.
Diesel imported from the region
reached a new high of $177.05 per barrel from $169.36 in June and
$161.22 per barrel in May.
Taxi fare
In postponing the implementation
of the fare increase for public-utility vehicles, the franchising
board said the fare matrix for jeepneys, authenticated provisional
fare guide for Metro Manila buses and yellow stickers for taxis are
necessary in implementing the fare hike to avoid conflict among
passengers and drivers.
Without these paraphernalia,
Mahipus said, the agency cannot enforce the fare increase.
He added that the taxi drivers
will have to wait for two weeks for their yellow P10 add-on meter
stickers for taxis. Mahipus said the stickers will contain security
marks.
According to him, taxi operators
can now apply for an increase in rates before the franchising board.
Piston, a non-government group of
jeepney drivers and operators, also on Wednesday said it will file a
petition for a fare increase of P1.50. The government on Tuesday
approved a P1 hike. At present, minimum jeepney fare is P8.
George San Mateo, the group’s
secretary-general, said the fare increase that they seek will help
Piston members and their families cope with the high fuel prices.
San Mateo warned of massive
protests to pressure the government into repealing the Oil
Deregulation Law, lifting the tax on oil and approving Piston’s
motion for the P1.50 fare hike.
--With James Konstantin Galvez And Francis Earl A. Cueto
|
