Philippine fuel prices hit record highs as food inflation fears grow

Mario Orain used to earn his living on the road. Now, the 51-year-old driver spends most of his time parked up, waiting for bookings that rarely come.“It’s really bad,” he told This Week in Asia. “There are very few bookings. And fuel prices have gone up a lot. It’s very expensive now.”With diesel prices in the Philippines shattering record highs amid the war on Iran, transport workers like Orain are being forced off the road as they face a stark choice between filling their tanks or feeding their families.After weeks of increases, diesel breached the triple-digit mark for the first time on Tuesday – with the Department of Energy warning of prices as high as 114 pesos (US$1.90) per litre in Metro Manila, nearly one-sixth of the minimum daily wage rate for non-agricultural workers in the Philippine capital.The price surge forced some petrol stations to improvise after the figures exceeded the two-digit capacity of their digital display systems. It also exposed a long-standing vulnerability.A petrol station in Quezon City, the Philippines, shows diesel prices written on pieces of paper on Thursday as its digital board was not designed to accommodate the number of digits. Photo: AP“Unlike some neighbouring countries, the Philippines has limited domestic refining capacity, which means local prices quickly reflect movements in global crude and refined product markets,” said Carlo Asuncion, chief economist at the Philippines" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="47362" data-entity-type="organization">Union Bank of the Philippines.