Oil Price Hike Means Bleak Christmas for the Poor - GWP Rep. Emmi De Jesus

“The cartel-like simultaneous price hikes of gasoline and kerosene by Pilipinas Shell, Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Philippines is definitely not a welcome Christmas gift as far as our poor women and their families are concerned,” Gabriela solon Rep. Emmi De Jesus remarked in the face of today’s increase by P0.80 per liter for unleaded gasoline and P0.85 per liter for regular gasoline.


“In the face of ongoing political bickering, the continuously deteriorating economic situation faced by more than three quarters of the Filipino population seems to be in the least priority of the Aquino administration,” Rep. De Jesus added.


“The Aquino administration failed to act on the increasing demands from our workers for an across-the-board nationwide wage hike, and instead offered a ‘consuelo-de-bobo’ emergency COLA of P22 per day. It failed to control runaway increases in the prices of oil and petroleum products as well as those of basic commodities and prime necessities,” The Gabriela solon pointed out.


“We know very well that such unchecked increases in prices of goods and products hurt poor families the most, yet it seems that the current administration remains unsympathetic to their plight,” the Gabriela solon further added.


“Gabriela Women’s Party, for its part, filed House Bill 4704 seeking to exempt basic necessities, prime commodities, and oil and petroleum products from the imposition of the value-added tax (VAT). The least the Aquino administration can do is to call on its allies in Congress to push for the early approval of this bill. Surely, our poor women and their families will welcome this as perhaps the best Christmas gift the government can offer,” Rep. De Jesus ended. Rowena Festin, Office of Representative Emmi De Jesus, Gabriela Women's Party