The ₱3/liter rollback ordered today by oil companies is tokenistic considering that prices of petroleum products have risen by up to ₱15 per liter during the past few months. Despite the maximum PR effect, this token reduction will have minimal impact on skyrocketting prices of food and other basic commodities.

This token price rollback is part of price manipulation by profit-hungry oil monopolies in collusion with the Marcos regime to placate the people’s anger. The insidious plan is to further increase oil prices in the coming weeks using all possible justification. It is not farfetched that they will use the Palestine-Israel war and other developments in the Middle East to jack up oil prices next week.

Monopoly capitalists and big finance (banks and speculators) who control the international oil industry push up and pull down prices on their whim to earn maximum superprofits.