By el Amigo
Let me begin with a confession: I am a car user and a fuel buyer, too.
Every time I fill up my tank, I feel the pain of these skyrocketing fuel prices.
So I fully understand why drivers and operators are angry. Diesel and gasoline are not luxuries for them. Fuel is their livelihood. Every increase eats into their daily income.
But precisely because I am also a fuel consumer, I have been asking myself a simple question about today’s nationwide transport strike:
Are we striking at the right target?
I now understand that there are legitimate issues behind the protest.
Transport groups want greater government assistance, fuel subsidies, relief from fuel taxes, fare adjustments and, in some cases, changes to or repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law.
Those are legitimate matters for government to address.
Government can review taxes.
Government can provide subsidies.
Government can improve assistance programs.
Government can review fare policies.
Congress can debate the Oil Deregulation Law.
On those issues, transport groups have every right to demand action.
But there is one thing government cannot simply command:
the world price of oil.
The Philippines does not produce enough petroleum to insulate itself from the international market. When crude prices rise globally, we feel it here. When the peso weakens against the dollar, we feel it again.
And right now, international oil prices are being shaken by the continuing conflict involving the United States and Iran.
No president in Malacañang can simply pick up the phone and tell the international oil market: “Please lower the price because our jeepney drivers are already suffering.”
It doesn’t work that way.
Even the Philippine National Police is feeling the same pain.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. acknowledged that higher fuel prices also affect police personnel who depend on patrol vehicles and motorcycles in performing their duties.
In other words, government personnel are also fuel buyers.
So am I.
So are delivery riders.
So are farmers.
So are small businesses.
So are ordinary employees driving to work.
We are all passengers in the same fuel crisis.
And that is why I cannot simply accept the argument that shutting down public transportation is automatically the best response.
Who suffers when the wheels stop turning?
The commuter.
The minimum-wage worker.
The student.
The nurse.
The construction worker.
The vendor.
The employee who cannot afford to miss a day’s work.
The irony is that many of these people are also suffering from exactly the same fuel-price increases that prompted the strike.
The driver loses income.
The commuter loses transportation.
And the international oil market?
It doesn’t even notice.
That is my concern.
I am not saying transport workers should keep quiet.
They should not.
I am not saying government should sit on its hands.
It must not.
Government has a responsibility to cushion the impact of fuel increases, particularly on sectors that depend on fuel for their daily survival.
But there is a difference between demanding that government mitigate a global crisis and expecting government to control something it does not control.
If transport groups want lower or zero fuel taxes, let us debate the consequences.
If they want larger fuel subsidies, tell us how much is needed and how the program can be made accessible and corruption-free.
If they want higher fares, explain the numbers and the impact on commuters.
If they want the Oil Deregulation Law changed, then let Congress seriously examine whether the law still serves the public interest under today’s circumstances.
These are concrete demands.
These can be debated.
These can be negotiated.
These can produce policy changes.
But if the expectation is that a Philippine transport strike will force international oil prices downward, then we are fooling ourselves.
It won’t.
The strike will not end the Iran-US conflict.
It will not change global crude production.
It will not move international oil traders.
It will not determine the price of a barrel of petroleum.
What it can do is bring Metro Manila and other parts of the country closer to a standstill—and put another burden on Filipinos who are already struggling.
So perhaps the better question is not “Why are they striking?”
There are reasons.
The better question is:
“What exactly do they want government to do—and which of those things can government actually do?”
That is where the public deserves clarity.
I am a car user.
I buy fuel.
I pay the same painful price at the pump.
I have every reason to complain.
But I also know that blaming the Philippine government for every increase caused by an international oil crisis will not make fuel cheaper.
We should demand action from government where government has power.
We should demand accountability where government has responsibility.
And we should demand honesty from everyone—including transport leaders—about what can realistically be achieved.
Because Filipinos are already paying a steep price for this global crisis.
Let’s make sure that in fighting the fuel crisis, we don’t end up making the Filipino commuter pay for it twice.
