NO doubt about it. The fuel crisis is causing the nation a lot of pain, and the tendency is to find somebody to blame.
It is not the Middle East, which has been forced to suspend crude oil deliveries to the rest of the world on account of the war between Iran and the US-Israel Coalition. The region pumps out 30% to 35% of the world’s crude oil, or roughly 30-36 million barrels per day out of the 100 million barrels of global daily output. That production—and its shipment—has practically halted.
No, not the countries half way around the world, which are engaged in the dangerous geopolitical gamesmanship. The most convenient, most accessible targets are the local gas firms. They increased the pump prices of gasoline and diesel, didn’t they?
And the biggest culprit of them all is Petron, which is why progressive blocs in Congress, activist groups, and consumer-oriented organizations demand that the government must intervene and save the people from the greed of this oil firm. Yes, all oil firms are fair game, but Petron, the country’s largest of them, all has become the symbol of an industry that profits from public pain.
The accusation is that oil companies, and Petron in particular, are exploiting the crisis and passing on punishing increases to motorists. It is an emotionally charged but faulty argument.
Of course, people of whatever ideological persuasions have the right to make their voices heard. That’s how democracy works, but let us examine the issue dispassionately.
For the March 17 to 23, 2026 fuel adjustments, the reported increases showed a range across oil companies. Gasoline went up by P12.90 to P16.60 per liter, while diesel rose by P20.40 to P23.90 per liter.
But remember that the oil companies do not keep these amounts for themselves. They merely function as collection agents, remitting both the excise tax and the VAT directly to the Bureau of Customs. This means that a substantial portion of what motorists are paying at the pump flows straight to government coffers, not to any oil company’s bottom line.
Here’s how it works. Under the TRAIN Law, every liter of fuel already carries a fixed government excise tax before a single peso reaches any oil company — P10 per liter for gasoline, P6 for diesel, and P3 for kerosene.
On top of that is a 12 percent VAT, applied not as a flat charge but as a percentage of the total price which means the higher global prices climb, the more tax the government automatically collects.
The government itself has acknowledged the effects of these excise taxes on the pump prices, which is why President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed a law giving him the power to suspend them, and why discussions about removing VAT on petroleum products have gained traction in both chambers of Congress.
Now, to circle back to Petron. Take note that this company charges less than, say, Shell or Seaoil. And yet it has drawn much of the political fire when the price hikes, which is inevitable, have to be imposed.
It is easy to see why Petron is taking the brunt of the abuse. It operates the country’s only remaining refinery. While others gave up oil refining years ago, Petron stayed in a business that is capital-intensive, politically exposed, and almost guaranteed to draw blame whenever global prices surge.
Of course, that does not make Petron virtuous. But neither does it make the company the villain that some ideologues portrait it to be. The reality is more nuanced than that.
