High fuel prices in PH partly due to taxes, lack of subsidies —Ramon Ang

Petron Corp. president and chief executive officer Ramon Ang on Thursday attributed the Philippines’ elevated fuel prices — which he said are up to three times those in neighboring countries — to taxes and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Ang said global crude prices surged to $120 per barrel due to the conflict between the United States and Iran, which has curtailed supply chains. This has been compounded by taxes, and the lack of subsidies from the government.

“Ang Pilipinas po naman, napakamahal po ng gasolina dito at kuryente kasi we are the only country in Asia, or if not in the world, na imposing taxes on fuel and electricity and we are the only country that does not give subsidy,” he said during the company’s annual stockholders meeting.

(In the Philippines, fuel and electricity are very expensive because we are the only country in Asia, or if not in the world, that imposes taxes on fuel and electricity, and we are the only country that does not give subsidy.)

“Hindi lang po giyera ‘yan, kung hindi talaga mahal ang presyo ng kuryente at gasolina dahil po ang gobyerno natin nag-i-impose po ng taxes at ‘yung ibang bayan, wala nang tax, naglalagay pa sila ng subsidy,” he added.

(It is not just the war. Electricity and gasoline are really expensive because our government imposes taxes and other countries do no tax and even provide subsidies.)

Locally, gasoline pump prices have been hiked for 15 of the 18 weeks so far this year. Retailers this week hiked prices per liter of gasoline by P2.21 and diesel by P2.66, while rolling back those of kerosene by P3.53.

Latest data available from the Department of Energy (DOE) show that year-to-date adjustments stood at a net increase of P44.23 per liter for gasoline, P48.96 per liter for diesel, and P57.99 per liter for kerosene as of April 28, 2026.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. last month removed excise taxes on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene, which are mostly used by the lower income households. He did not do the same for gasoline and diesel.

The Department of Finance (DOF) defended the exclusion of gasoline and diesel, as it said “any reduction in retail pump prices would be marginal and largely offset by prevailing market dynamics.”

Moving forward, Ang expressed optimism that pump prices would normalize as the conflict in the Middle East eases.

“Ipinagdadasal po ng lahat ng tao ‘yan sa buong mundo na sana tuloy tuloy na bumaba ang presyo ng gasoline at diesel. Kaya lang, ay I think hindi pa nakakarating sa isip ni (President) Donald Trump ‘yun, kaya ipagdasal po natin mga kababayan,” he said.

(Everyone around the world is praying that gasoline and diesel prices will continue to go down but I think that hasn’t reached the mind of (President) Donald Trump yet, so let us pray for it, my fellow countrymen.)

Petron reported a 56% drop in its first-quarter net income to P1.8 billion from P4 billion a year ago, dragged by higher product costs, the absence of refinery production in Malaysia, and reduced output in the Philippines amid the Middle East conflict.

“Maasahan ninyo, lahat ng pwede nating gawin para ma-improve ‘yung takbo ng kumpanya, ginagawa po natin (You can trust that everything we can do to improve the performance of the company, we are doing),” Ang said. —AOL, GMA News