The oil companies raised pump prices by P0.70 per liter of gasoline, P0.40 per liter of kerosene and P0.30 per liter of diesel effective at 6 a.m. today, Tuesday.
Pilipinas Shell, Phoenix Petroleum, PTT Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, Cleanfuel and PetroGazz issued separate advisories of their latest price adjustments.
Unioil Philippines forecast that diesel prices would go up by P0.30 to P0.40 per liter and gasoline by P0.40 to P0.50 per liter over the weekend.
Before the price increases announced for Tuesday, the total year-to-date adjustments stood at a net decrease of P5.67 per liter of gasoline, P9.14 per liter of diesel and P13.39 per liter of kerosene, according to data from the Energy department.
The oil companies have also started charging the additional 10-percent tax on crude and petroleum products as provided in Executive order 113.
Malacañang imposed the tax on May 2 to help finance the measures aimed at easing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
But consumer advocacy group Laban Konsyumer Inc. president Vic Dimagiba said the collection of the higher duty should stop.
“For everybody’s information, the collection of the 10- percent tariff on fuel products ended on June 25, 2020, based on Section 7 of Executive Order 113,” Dimagiba said.
“We as consumers are still recovering from the lockdown and the community quarantine, and we are all still adjusting to the new normal. In fact, many people have already lost their jobs and have no means to raise money for their families. Even the big corporations are having to lay off employees.”
Dimagiba said consumers should not be the ones to carry the heavy responsibility of absorbing and paying for the high fuel prices.