Oil firms in the Philippines announce price freeze in areas hit by southwest monsoon, cyclones
MANILA – With more than six million Filipinos still reeling from the aftermath of strong rains and widespread flooding due to the southwest monsoon ('habagat') and tropical cyclones, some oil companies announced on Monday that they will be effecting a price freeze in affected areas.
Starting on Tuesday, the prices per liter of gasoline will rise by 10 centavos, diesel by 60 centavos, and kerosene by 40 centavos.
Seaoil, Petron and Jetti Petroleum, however, said in separate advisories that there will be no price increase in selected provinces in Luzon and the Visayas.
For Jetti Petroleum, fuel prices will remain the same in Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bataan, Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan, Oriental Mindoro, and Negros Occidental.
Petron will also defer the price hikes in La Union, Ilocos Sur, Pampanga, and parts of Pangasinan, while Seaoil said the price adjustments will not cover Regions 1 and 2.
Still rising
The Department of Agriculture (DA) reported on Monday that damage to the country's farm sector continued to rise due to the combined effects of the habagat and tropical cyclones, hitting P2.34 billion so far.
The figure represents a 27.17 percent increase from the P1.84 billion worth of losses it reported on July 27.
A total of 74,895 farmers and fishers in the following regions were affected: Cordillera, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, Soccksargen, and the National Capital Region.
Rice accounted for 54.49 percent, or P1.27 billion of the total losses, as well as corn, cassava, high-value crops, fisheries, livestock and poultry, and agricultural infrastructures.
'Further damage and losses are expected in affected regions as assessment and validation [are] ongoing,' the DA said.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said last week that the department is not anticipating a surge in the prices of food items, including vegetables.
Even so, the DA has lined up various assistance programs to fast-track the sector's recovery and rehabilitation of farmlands, including prepositioning P653.01 million worth of agricultural inputs, including seeds, seedlings, and pesticides, for distribution through its regional field offices.
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