BY MYRNA VELASCO
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MOTORISTS will have to cope with a new round of big-time hikes in pump prices this week at the scale of P1.70 to P1.90 per liter for gasoline products and P0.90 to P1.10 per liter for diesel products.
For kerosene products that are essential not just for Filipino households but also as a base fuel for industries such as aviation, this is anticipated to go up by P0.80 to P0.95 per liter.
The calculated adjustments do not include yet the price increases that will be imposed based on the hiked 10 percent duty on imported crude and finished petroleum products.
Executive Order No. 113 issued by President Duterte last month stipulated that the higher import duty shall be enforced while the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act is still in effect or for it to become a temporarily policy over a period of six months or until December this year.
But given that the COVID-19 response law of the country had lapsed, policymakers from the Department of Energy and National Economic and Development Authority have yet to signal if the import duty escalation would have to be terminated within an earlier timeframe.
