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Brix Lelis - The Philippine Star
April 7, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Oil firms are set to roll out another round of fuel price hikes today, pushing the total increase for diesel above P100 per liter or up to as high as P170 since the Middle East war erupted in late February.
Gasoline and kerosene prices also continue to climb, with cumulative price gains expected to reach over P50 and P80 per liter, respectively, this week.
Starting today, Petron will implement an increase of P4.90 per liter for gasoline, P18.80 for diesel and P8.10 for kerosene.
At Shell stations, diesel will jump by P19.80 per liter, gasoline by P5.90 and kerosene by P9.10.
Jetti Petroleum, meanwhile, announced price increases of P18.60 per liter for diesel and P5.40 for gasoline, which will take effect on Friday.
These latest adjustments could drive kerosene and premium diesel prices in Metro Manila beyond P170 per liter, while gasoline is on track to approach P120 per liter.
Alberto Dalusung III, energy transition advisor at the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, said the steep rise in diesel prices hits jeepney and bus drivers particularly the hardest.
“It’s not dire, but it’s a very difficult situation because we don’t know where the prices will go,” Dalusung told ANC yesterday.
The Department of Energy could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin has said lowering prices remains a government priority amid the ongoing energy emergency.
More than a month since tensions began, however, there has still been no concrete action to cushion the impact of soaring fuel costs.
With the staggering fuel prices, nearly half of the jeepney drivers belonging to a national transport group are being pushed off the road.
Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators ng Pilipinas (LTOP) president Orlando Marquez said drivers have been enduring financial losses because of the energy crisis, prompting some of them to stop operating their routes.
“You ply your route, yet you couldn’t earn,” Marquez said. “It’s better if we work as carpenters, so we can at least afford a kilo of rice and food for our families.”
Marquez expressed frustration over the delay in the President’s use of emergency powers to suspend the excise tax on oil.
“It’s cooked, yet why would you not serve it? Are you waiting for it to go bad so we can get sick and die?”
Transport holiday
On Wednesday, the federations of public utility vehicle operators and drivers will hold a national assembly to finalize a decision on conducting a transport holiday with bus operators and truckers.
“This is not a strike,” Marquez clarified. “But it’s like a holiday. If the government is on holiday, we will also halt.”
The LTOP president pointed out that the oil deregulation law has been causing much suffering to the transport sector.
“Many politicians have promised in the last elections that they will revise it, but where are the revisions?” Marquez said.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, has proposed that government refund the taxes already paid by oil companies on their current inventories to trigger an instant rollback for consumers, saying that simply suspending the fuel excise tax will not immediately bring down pump prices. — EJ Macababbad, Mark Ernest Villeza, Neil Jayson Servallos, Andrew Ronquillo
