Fuel pump prices are expected to go down again next week by as much as P2.70 per liter amid the softening in global oil demand.
Industry sources said that based on the four-day global oil trading, diesel will likely go down by P2.40 to P2.70 per liter, kerosene by P1.65 to P1.85 per liter, and gasoline by P0.60 to P0.80 per liter.
Department of Energy (DOE) director for the Oil Industry Management Bureau Rodela Romero confirmed the expected oil price movement next week.
She attributed the rollback to “demand destruction worries with falling demand of US and China’s weak exports.”
Rice prices are also expected to go down in December as the ongoing harvest boosts local supply, a group of farm producers said on Friday.
RiceUp Farmers Inc. founder and president Elvin Laceda said that from mid-October to end-November, farmers were at the peak of their harvests, which would boost local production in December or before Christmas.
“That is our hope, that the abundant harvests in November will be felt by our consumers by December and January,” he told TeleRadyo Serbisyo.
Palay currently sells for around P15 to P22 a kilo, and ideally, retail prices should only be double the price of palay, Laceda said.
But he said some retailers mix local rice with imported grain to raise prices.
Meanwhile, Senator Imee Marcos on Friday said she does not favor the government call to limit basuc servings of rice to half a cup in food establishments nationwide to address wastage.
“I don’t favor half rice and I don’t like people to go hungry in thecarinderia, boodle fight, and in the home of every Filipino,” she said, noting that Filipinos are heavy eaters of the staple grain.
“This is the reason why the concept of ‘unli rice’ was invented. It has become popular,” the senator said.
Instead of a mandatory half-rice serving, Marcos said the government should help Filipino farmers increase their production.
“Let us also focus on post-harvested rice,” she said, noting that about 23 percent of palay was being wasted while being dried on the roads and stockroom owing to a lack of postharvest facilities.
On Nov. 7, oil firms cut the price of diesel by P1.10 per liter, kerosene by P1.05 per liter and gasoline by P0.45 per liter.
These price adjustments resulted in a year-to-date net increase of P13.75 per liter for gasoline, P9.35 per liter for diesel, and P3.99 per liter for kerosene.
