Pump prices went up by as much as P0.65 per liter effective 7 am Tuesday to reflect the movement of world oil prices, the third increase in as many weeks.
Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, and Flying V raised the price of gasoline by P0.65 per liter, diesel by P0.35 per liter and kerosene by P0.45 per liter.
Eastern Petroleum implemented a lower increase of P0.60 per liter for gasoline and P0.30 per liter for diesel.
As part of a marketing promotion, Phoenix announced that it would sell gas and diesel at a P5 and P2 per liter discount from May 29 to 30 from 6 am to 10 pm.
“At Phoenix Petroleum, we put our customers’ needs first, which is why we are offering this promo to cushion the impact of price increases,” said Phoenix Petroleum chief operating officer Henry Albert Fadullon.
Chevron Philippines, for its part, said it will continue its fuel discounts for public utility vehicles amid the high oil prices.
“Chevron Philippines Inc., through its Caltex retail sites, provides discount lanes to public utility vehicles [PUVs] across the country up to as high as P4 per liter,” said Raissa Romina Bautista, manager for policy government and public affairs.
A consumer group, Laban Konsumer Inc., said the huge discounts suggested that the oil price increases are bloated.
LKI urged the Energy department to look into the almost uniform weekly price adjustments and the wide variance in retail prices in areas such as Baguio City versus La Union.
Energy department Director Rino Abad warned last week that oil prices may continue to go up in the short-term or up to six months if the ongoing global oil situation persists.
In some retail outlets, gasoline prices reached P60 per liter while diesel reached a high of P57 per liter.
The Finance department, meanwhile, said the government has an array of measures to mitigate the effect of rising oil prices, but said it would not immediately suspend the excise tax on fuel because it is not authorized to do so under the TRAIN law.
“Should the price of Dubai crude keep going up and the three-month average in the last quarter of this year hits $80 per barrel, we will be ready to activate the suspension mechanism for the next increase in January 2019,” he said.
In the meantime, he said, social grants such as the unconditional cash transfer and fuel vouchers can mitigate the effects of rising oil prices.
Another 2.6-million household beneficiaries are in the process of getting their cash subsidies in May and June. For 2018, some P24 billion will be released to cover the poorest 10 million households.
For this year, UCT beneficiaries will receive P200 a month, which will increase to P300 a month in 2019 and 2020, Chua said.
The Palace said Monday it cannot suspend the excise tax on fuel this year under TRAIN, even if the world price hits the trigger rate of $80 per barrel, unless Congress amends the law.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to suspend the excise tax on fuel, but the TRAIN law says this can only take place in 2019, not in 2018.
In a Palace briefing, Finance Assistant Secretary Paola Alvarez explained that the government cannot suspend the collection of excise taxes on fuel even if global oil prices reach $80 per barrel this month, and only Congress has the authority to do so by repealing the law.
“The President only implements the law and Congress has the power. What the President can do is to follow what is stated in the law,” she said.
Under the TRAIN Law, only the increase of excise taxes on fuel will be suspended once the prices reach the $80 per barrel level.
Alvarez said the government can suspend the excise tax in January 2019 even if the price of oil breaches $80 a barrel today.
“The provision of the law is very specific… that when Dubai crude oil hits $80 per barrel at an average, it will be the next tranche in 2019 that we will suspend [the collection of the tax],” she said.
“The President is not numb in what’s currently happening. No one really wants the oil price hike,” Roque said.