Price we all pay

Last week, I pulled up to a gas station thinking P2,500 might still get me a full tank, a typical old habit. My fuel gauge did not even move two bars up, so I told the gas attendant, “Grabe, kuya, dati full tank na yan (Wow, bro, that used to be a full tank).”

We ended up talking and he told me something that hit me, about whining over things that are beyond my control. He reminded me to think of those whom he encountered daily, the tricycle and jeepney drivers who had to make their daily boundary of around P2,800 on top of the fuel costs.

“Yung iba, P13 na lang natitira sa kanila (The others have only P13 left),” he said. Thirteen pesos?! After a whole day on the road? Is it even possible to live on that amount on a daily basis? Well, that stayed with me as I drove away.

This isn’t just about fuel anymore. It’s about everything every person needs to survive. It’s rice, it’s sardines, it’s fares going to school or work, it’s everything. The small compromises that, over time, don’t feel so small anymore.

We are all paying the price.

And in times like this, the government response matters.

Subsidies are rolled out. Fee suspensions are proposed. But let us remember that these are all temporary and not for the long term.

Take the recent push to suspend port fees, for example, in hopes of easing the cost of transporting goods. At first glance, it seems logical — reduce costs somewhere in the chain and prices will go down.

The truth? It will barely move a hair.

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has an explanation for this. The government’s share of port fees is less than 10 percent of the cost of the goods. That translates to roughly 0.3 percent of the final retail price. In simple terms, even if you remove the port fee entirely, its impact on prices would be negligible.

Meanwhile, the real cost drivers remain untouched.

Shipping accounts for more than 50 percent of logistics costs. Trucking takes up another 35 percent. These are the heavyweights. These are the pressures that actually push prices up.

We all know that the PPA funds its operations, personnel, and infrastructure projects through its fees. Remove them, and you won’t just “ease costs,” but you would cripple the system that keeps our ports running.

What we need right now is a concrete plan — a real one.

This is where agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry must lead with a comprehensive strategy that will address the entire supply chain.

Where is the roadmap to stabilize logistics costs?

Lowering the prices of basic needs is not just about giving a subsidy for a week or about tightening measures at work, but about confronting the largest challenges head-on.

Going back to the ports, an inspection last week of the Batangas Port by the Department of Transportation, together with the PPA, Maritine Industry Authority, and the Philippine Coast Guard, showed an awareness of the situation on the ground. With fuel prices rising due to global tensions and the peak travel season approaching, the authorities are checking fares, monitoring compliance, and reminding shipping lines to keep fare increases within reasonable limits.

But inspections alone cannot offset systemic issues. Monitoring fares is one thing, but reshaping the cost structure behind those fares is another. At the end of the day, the crisis we’re facing isn’t temporary. It’s structural. And it will not be solved by short-term relief measures.

We owe it to that gas station attendant. To the jeepney driver left with only P13. To every Filipino doing silent calculations just to get through the week.

We need beyond surface-level solutions. We need agencies that don’t just respond, but rethink, redesign, and rebuild the system.

Because the longer we rely on quick fixes, the heavier the price we will all continue to pay in going to our destinations, for we are all in the same boat.