Gosh, another gas hike!

By Herbert Vego

WHEN will this ever stop?

This was the question that came to my mind on knowing that the price of gasoline had gone beyond ₱62 per liter, or an increase of ₱2.65 per liter.

I guess it will cost higher in the forthcoming Christmas.  That hurts those of us who have yet to fully pay debts incurred in Christmas 2023.

Even we who think of ourselves as “middle class” grimace over unending rise in prices of food and other basic commodities.

The unwelcome price increases scare wage earners whose pay hikes always lag behind.

We respond by pinching pennies. To make both ends meet, we buy less of our basic needs – say, a half-kilo of meat instead of the previous one kilo at the risk of our family going undernourished. But it’s really a losing game because the value of our money has diminished.

Even the greedy merchants who impose higher prices for bigger profit eventually see the erosion of their own gains whenever they buy their own needs at higher prices, too. Sooner or later, whatever money they have saved in the bank, even if it earns interest, devaluates.

The phrase “A penny saved is a penny earned” no longer means what it says because it sheds its true value over time.

Therefore, why not make the most of it now? A devalued peso has more value than no peso at all. Why not cost-cut instead?

Shame on our profiteering merchants who ignore this Bible verse:”The love of money is the root of all  evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Alas, cost-cutting may not work well, especially if it means scrimping on budget meals. While we can cut food expenses to the bone, we could get sick due to malnutrition.

The only way to keep pace with inflation is to earn more, which is an elusive dream for the average Filipino wage earner; or have a “sideline” or small business in which to prosper.

Those who demand wage increase but don’t get it are doomed to sink poorer.

Let’s take a look at the minimum wage earner making ₱18,000 per month. If this were his income in the 1980s, he might have lived like a prince. Today, he has to endure a spartan existence (no TV, no ref, no computer, no phone) to have a roof over his head, and to feed, clothe and educate his children.

Unfortunately, whenever laborers ask for a wage hike across the board, their employer would need to hike prices of their products – which further fuels inflation.

The better alternative would be to stimulate demand by keeping prices low and produce more products.  With more products selling like hotcakes, both the producer and the consumers benefit. This is the “secret” behind the success of small but export-oriented countries.

Working abroad for better pay is an option for Filipinos who no longer see the “future” in the local job market. As the song New York New York says, “If you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere.”

-oOo-

CONGRATS, SIR ROEL

WE have no doubt that he electrifies, literally and figuratively, in his dual roles as president and chief executive officer of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power), and of Negros Electric Power Corp. (NEPC).

Moreover, Roel Z. Castro has just been elected president of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation (ILED), a 17-year-old public-private foundation tasked to attract investments to Iloilo in collaboration with the city and provincial governments.

His new role at the ILED—of which he has been a member since 2018 – mirrors his commitment to innovation and sustainable development beyond the four corners of his office.

One wonders how Castro budgets his time for work and civic action. He also serves as a director of the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. and the UP Visayas Foundation, Inc.

“Time management,” he told this writer, adding that he still goes home to Metro Manila to be with his family on weekends.

“Sir Roel,” as we in the media call him, is an ardent believer of media relations. This is evident in MORE Power’s press conferences where he personally rubs elbows with us.