Malasakit (with VAT)

Is there an oil cartel? The prices move like there is. Watch it. The biggest players adjust almost together. Same direction. Almost the same amount. In a deregulated market. In a market that’s supposed to compete.

There may be good reasons for that. Always. Global costs, supply, timing; they’ll walk you through the math. Very convincing. You almost feel smarter just listening.

Still, even government economists admit it: when you only have a few big players, it is very easy to “move together.”

They buy from the same global market. Same place. Almost the same price. Then, every week, they announce the price before it even happens. One says, “Tomorrow, plus P18.” Everyone sees the bulletin. No surprises.

The others have a choice. Follow and stay safe. Or do not follow, stay cheaper, and become very acpopular. Sounds heroic. Not very profitable.

They follow. Almost every time.

Suppose one says, “Let’s go P3 cheaper.” Consumers would be very happy. Except the others can match it. Now everyone earns less. Nobody wins.

Nobody has to secretly meet in a room. Everybody only has to look around and make the safest move, which is always the same move. Nobody is a genius here. Because the first one who gets creative pays for it.

Suddenly, you have a market that looks like a cartel, without technically being one. Because a cartel is when they agree; this is when nobody wants to be the one who disagrees.

Deregulation was supposed to protect you. Competition. Prices go down, everybody fights for you.

Where is the fight? Who is privatization actually helping?

Before, when prices hurt, you could blame the government. Now? Nobody’s fault. It’s global. Very complex. It is out of everyone’s hands — except yours when it is time to pay.

Petron. Right in the middle. Does not stray too far. Even Ramon Ang’s “compassion” stays within range.

Ramon Ang said he is willing to sacrifice income. Malasakit. All the greatest hits. Big words. Very warm. You can almost hug it.

Next President, they say.

He has the Mother Teresa bleeding heart of a public servant and the pricing of a very good businessman.

You can see the malasakit, except you cannot afford it.

If sacrifice is real, it should show up in the price — the only place that matters. When every pump looks the same, the only proof of sacrifice is an RSA who does not follow.

No one is asking oil company executives to ignore a P18 jump. Everyone says fuel prices follow the global market. Fine. But markets do not move themselves; companies decide how to move with them.

How fast you follow, how much you pass on, whether you carry a little or dump everything immediately — that is not the market. It is a decision.

So we are curious. Did RSA and the rest of the oil companies ever not pass the full P18 right away?

Even once? A fraction held back? Just one moment when he did not go with the flow? When was that?

Because if RSA moved exactly like everyone else, then let’s be honest: nothing was sacrificed.

The government imported millions of liters of diesel. Extra supply. Meant to help. But lawmakers themselves say supply was never the issue — it was price.

So why did some stations close or ration? One explanation raised in Congress: hoarding. If prices are set to rise next week, there is less reason to sell cheaper today.

The industry continues to play the role of good corporate citizens. Model citizens everywhere, cleaning this, fixing that.

But when it is time to actually “lead,” suddenly it is follow-the-leader.

They love saying nation-building. Sounds like cranes, steel, progress. You picture Skyway, SLEX, NAIA 1. Immediately, we try to figure out if we are supposed to say thank you, or how much.

Because if you “build the country” and make it very expensive to live in, what exactly did you build?