Workers have no defense against domino effect of surging oil prices

The militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) today said that workers cannot absorb the latest increase in prices of rice, fish, pork, chicken, canned goods, milk, bread and other basic consumer goods brought about the sharp increases in local petroleum products. Based on surveys in major public markets in Metro Manila this morning, prices of vegetables, poultry and livestock products have gone up by almost P10/kilo compared to their prices last week.

"Ordinary Filipino workers and consumers cannot absorb the domino effect of the surging prices of local petroleum products. Oil companies and businesses are expected to pass on the high oil prices to consumers in the form of additional market prices of almost all consumer goods. We have no defense against the wave of prices hikes, minimum wages in the National Capital Region (NCR) are still pegged at P275. It's far from enough to cover the daily cost of living now amounting to P690. Our demand for P125 across-the-board, across-the-county wage hike is therefore very justified at this time," said KMU Chairperson Elmer 'Bong' Labog.

Labog said the government can put an end to this perennial problem caused by oil price hikes by decisively scrapping the oil deregulation law which allows foreign oil companies to hike up prices every so often. "The country must disengage from the exploitative oil trading dictated by foreign companies. The government must impose oil price regulation and set up a national centralized procurement scheme. This way we can be protected from the impact of excessive oil price hikes brought about by speculation and monopoly control."

"Our dependence on imported oil from Shell, Caltex, Petron and Total makes our economy more vulnerable at every movement of oil prices in the world market. Deregulation tolled heavily on consumers and the public are always burdened by price hikes."

"Oil companies are taking full advantage of the speculative increase in oil prices in the global market. They are earning much from the latest artificial oil price increases on top of already exorbitant cost of petroleum products," Labog said.

He said that the latest oil price hikes will be met with series of protests from the labor and transport sector in the next few days. "We are gearing our efforts towards May 1 as workers and other poor sectors launch actions nationwide to assert the need for higher wages and other demands of the people.

According to transport group PISTON, they have monitored at least six rounds of OPH from January to third week of April alone that increased the pump price of diesel by P3.02 per liter; regular gasoline, P2.13 and kerosene, P3.10. Last year, PISTON monitored at least 19 rounds of price hikes that increased the oil pump price by more than P7 per liter on the average. Overall, there have been at least 71 rounds of OPH from April 1996 (when the first oil deregulation law was passed) to the present.

Workers refuse fare hikes

While other transport groups are asking for another round of fare hikes in response to rising costs of diesel prices, KMU said a fare hike is not an option this time. "LTFRB Chair Elena Bautista better think of other ways to appease the transport sector other than allowing another round of fare hikes. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) must impose effective price controls and not just price monitoring. Consumers need a reprieve from the unstoppable price hikes," Labog concluded.