President Duterte has conceded that he could not do anything about the high fuel prices “even if you hang me.”
The President said the country merely relies on imported oil products whose prices also affect the cost of other consumer products.
“Alam mo ngayon wala tayong oil so every time tataas ‘yung oil, automatic tataas lahat ‘yan,” he said during his visit to Maguindanao yesterday Monday.
“Even if you hang me, wala tayong magawa. Bitayin mo man ako ‘pag tumaas ‘yung oil tataas talaga ‘yung presyo because everything that you see is a product of oil,” he added.
He admitted that the country was not as blessed as Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia which have their own oil resources. As a result, he said the country has “no buffer” or “reserves” to deal with oil price hikes in the world market.
“Ngayon ibinigay ng Pangulong Diyos sa Indonesia, ibinigay sa Malaysia, ibinigay sa Brunei pero wala sa atin kaya tayo ‘pag increase wala tayong buffer, walang reserba pang-cover natin. Pagtaas niyan, taas lahat,” he added.
Duterte previously claimed that the high cost of fuel was to blame for the country’s soaring inflation a few months ago.
Inflation slowed down to 4.4 percent last January from 5.1 percent in December. The inflation rate eased due to the slower price increases of food, electricity, and fuel, among others. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)