Pilipinas, you need to work

Once again prices at the pump went up another P1.50 this Saturday bring the average price of gas to P59.57. Barely hitting the P60 mark this makes Manila gas prices at around $5.16 a gallon. And it’s really hurting.

What used to cost me a full tank is now only half a tank. I fill up every two weeks and on Thursday. That allows me to avoid the long lines at the pump every Friday night. I’ve changed the way I drive and get gas. I think I’m saving some money. Luckily I haven’t reached the point where I may have to take my bicycle to work yet.

Obviously I was away from my computer last week and thus no new posts until yesterday. So here I am taking on gas prices again. One liter at the pump now costs P58.07. That’s another P1.50 increase from my last gas post. This brings the price of gasoline in Manila past the $5 a gallon mark.

Beat that California. We’ve got higher gas prices than you and nobody seems to be using less energy here. No real mass transportation, no investigation on why pump prices are going up this fast.

Yesterday I predicted a P2 increase in gas prices in Manila. I was wrong. It turns out to be P1.50. That is such a big difference. Maybe they’ll do the P2 next week.

Gasoline will go up another P2. This will bring the average price of gas per liter to P57.07. The current exchange rate is about $1=P44.50. This will bring a gallon of gas in the Philippines to $4.84 a gallon. If you track back at my previous posts, that’s a rate of almost $1 a month. At this rate the Philippines will get to the $5/gallon before the U.S. does.

As predicted, the price of unleaded gasoline is now P55.07 a liter. In US terms that would be $4.81 a gallon. That’s the cheapest gas around. Premium unleaded will set you back $4.85/ gallon.

This is getting crazy. I’ve been fortunate enough that my car isn’t that addicted to gas as those big SUVs. Diesel is cheaper in Manila but there are also calls from the oil companies to increase it by P11.00. That would put it closer to the unleaded price.

We must reduce our dependence on oil. We’re fortunate enough that we don’t we very cold winters. But we don’t have an efficient mass transportation or open highways. Traffic is the number one cause of gas guzzling as it increases the consumption of gas as you get from point A to B. Mass transportation will reduce this by reducing the number of vehicles on the street.

Let’s face it, there are too many jeeps and buses that clog major highways thus reducing the speed of other motorists. Driving slow doesn’t make you save gas. It’s driving consistently that saves gas. I can get 30km/ liter on my car even at 80kph.

Yes if efficient mass transportation is done, all of these “progressive” groups will complain about the lack of jobs for those jeepney drivers and bus drivers. Well that’s supposed to happen.

The current transportation system is seriously flawed. There are no bus schedules, no clear transportation routes, no map that we can even give a tourist for him to get from Manila to Makati. Bus stops are there but buses stop at all the stops and then some. It’s just a mess. It’s a clear sign of the third worldness of the Philippines. Inefficiency.

Perhaps that’s why we feel the pain of high gas prices.

If the past three weeks are any indication, I think we can expect prices at the pump to go up at midnight. Gas companies seem to want to jack prices up 2 pesos this Saturday. I think I’m going for gas tonight.

If you got gas last Friday, you’re one of the lucky ones. Gas prices once again went up Saturday midnight to bring the average prices up P1.50.

If you’ve followed my previous post on gas prices this brings Manila gas prices to $4.68 a gallon. Now that is way more than the prices in the U.S.

I am thankful that I drive a economical car that can go 30km per liter if I drive well enough or at least two weeks till the next visit to the gas station.

But with gas prices going up, commuter fares are bound to increase in the next few weeks. Are we feeling the pain of not building an efficient mass transportation system?

We are turning into another Los Angeles, where everyone must have a car to get around the city. Most middle class would rather drive a car than get stuck in the inefficiency of our public transportation. Taxi cabs, buses and jeepneys are all privately owned overcrowding the streets.

If the traffic situation wasn’t as bad as it is today, would the gas prices hurt as much? If Filipinos actually learned how to drive properly, would we have better gas mileage? I think so. But until the country learns how to follow street rules and regulations, they will have to contend with rising transportation costs for their motorvehicles.

There’s no stopping gas prices from climbing in the United States or anywhere for that matter. But there are stark differences on how people perceive these things.

Most people believe that the oil companies are milking the public because they’re selling essentially a limited resource. While it may be true to some degree, that’s what most Filipinos believe.

Filipinos have poisoned over the years by leftist propaganda that it’s all to make the rich richer at the expense of the masses. (If that doesn’t sound communist talk to you then I don’t know that is). These people fail to realize that we’re not the only ones using gas powered cars in the world. That we don’t need oil for house heating. We only use it for transportation, electricity and cooking. While the most of the northern hemisphere have to burn fossil fuels in order to survive the winter season. All they see is me me me me. I’m getting poorer because of high gas prices.

Get over yourself. Be grateful that it doesn’t cost you $4/gallon of gas. That you don’t drive a V8 car/ SUV or that we don’t need to heat our houses since it’s already 90F here. You cannot blame the government about high gas prices because it’s expensive everywhere you go.

The simplest solution. Reduce your consumption of gas. Duh! If things are getting a little expensive then learn how to drive smarter. Driving your car slower will not help you save gas, it actually makes you use more gas. So there! Until you get an electric car. Stop complaining it’s a global thing. Stop being part of the problem, become the solution.