Petrol Prices Soar In Philippines As Nationwide Transport Strike Enters Third Day

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Seventy-eight year old jeepney driver Elmer Cordero was leading the transport strike in the busy hub of Monumento in Caloocan City on Tuesday when he collapsed. He had a stroke.

Public transport drivers launched a nationwide three-day strike in the Philippines since Monday, September 28, angered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr 's refusal to suspend taxes on diesel and gasoline amid successive price hikes.

Recommended For You

Cordero was advised by his fellow drivers to take it easy, but he had always been present at protest actions against skyrocketing fuel prices, and he joined the urgent demand for Marcos to suspend excise taxes on diesel and gasoline to bring fuel prices down to manageable levels.

Cordero, who spent decades driving the iconic Filipino jeepney to bring workers and students to their destinations, is in a coma in a hospital. On Wednesday (September 30) the third day of a nationwide transport strike against the latest series of oil price hikes, he again symbolises government neglect of a suffering people amid global geopolitical crises.

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp channels. 'Marcos himself is to be blamed'

Transport federation Piston president Mody Floranda said diesel prices had reached P147 (Dh8.75) per liter in some parts of the Philippines. He said transport workers are no longer earning anything since the Middle East war erupted early in the year.

The group Para Commuters' Network (PCN) meanwhile reported that a further 20 per cent of public transport drivers have stopped plying their routes in September due to unrestrained fuel price increases. The country's commuters are taking longer to reach their destinations, contributing to woes that seem to have no end, the group added.

PCN spokesperson Reign Desaca blames Marcos for refusing to exercise the powers given him by law to suspend taxes on fuel while the West Asian wars remain unresolved.“Marcos himself is to be blamed for all this suffering. His inability to give solutions to the crisis is just as problematic as the war,” Desaca said.

Lito Andal from Batangas Province agrees Marcos should suspend fuel excise taxes until prices normalise.“How can he let the people suffer like this?” he asked, adding: "We are here to earn but only oil companies continue to profit by the billions,”

Marcos earlier said the government would lose P400 million (Dh23.8 million) in daily revenues if diesel and gasoline excise taxes are suspended along with those on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas.

ALSO READ

Filipino drivers launch 3-day strike as diesel hits P99 and Marcos rejects fuel tax cuts Transport crisis: Up to 80% of Philippine provincial buses stop running as fuel prices soar Philippine vegetable prices surge as farmers struggle with transport and storage costs

MENAFN30092026000049011007ID1111741448