Activists and indigenous people pelted mud and painted over the tarpulin in front of Petron Oil headquarters in Mandaluyong City on March 16 to express people’s outrage at the profit-greedy company. The headquarters sits inside the San Miguel Corporation compound, owner of the company.

Protesters painted demands to lower oil prices, which shot up last week. The protesters included members of Katribu (Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, or Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines), Sandugo, Kalikasan PNE, and other progressive organizations. They also condemned the US-Israel war of aggression against Iran that sparked widespread chaos in the Middle East and the entire world.

They likewise condemned the Marcos regime’s incompetence in abating the worsening crisis of Filipinos’ livelihoods. They said that the regime further burdens the people with VAT and excise tax imposed on petroleum products as oil and other commodity prices shoot up. They demanded removing oil taxes and junking the Oil Deregulation Law that allows companies to wantonly and arbitrarily raise prices.

Oil companies implemented another “big time” or “jumbo” price hike on Tuesday, March 17:

• Gasoline: ₱12.90 up to ₱16.60 per liter
• Diesel: ₱20.40 up to ₱23.90 per liter
• Kerosene: ₱6.90 up to ₱8.90 per liter.

Diesel prices have currently reach ₱114-₱115 per liter at some stations in Metro Manila and other places, while gasoline prices continue to rise.

Greedy for profit

Protesters branded Petron and other oil companies “profit-greedy” for exploiting the Middle East war to impose successive massive price hikes.

Local companies already pocketed billions of pesos from the overpricing of petroleum products even before the Middle East war.

IMF and Department of Energy (DOE) data stated that Dubai crude oil fell from $81.80 per barrel in January 2025 to $61.83 in December 2025, or by 24%. Despite this, diesel prices in NCR showed zero percent (0%) change or no movement: ₱57.79 in January and ₱57.76 in December of that year.

Amid all this, Petron boasted of its 84% “historic” net profit surge, from ₱8.5 billion in 2024 to ₱15.6 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, Shell Philippines net profit also rose by 33% in the first nine months of 2025.

Oil companies clearly do not pass through global crude oil price drops to consumers. On the other hand, each minuscule oil price increase is immediately reflected at gas stations.

Global crude oil prices rose about 40-50% (~$70 to ~$102) over the past 17-18 days or from February 28 to March 17. Price hikes in the Philippines proved even steeper, especially diesel which jumped 50%-100% from end of February. This stems from rising VAT surcharges (which increases as products get costlier), further drop in the peso-dollar exchange, and oil companies passing on added costs while maintaining high profit margins.