Impact of the war on Ukraine

It’s now P3 for gasoline, P5 pesos for diesel. These are the supposed increases to be implemented this Tuesday, so I suggest everybody fill their tanks. We are already starting to feel the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The price of crude oil in the world market has reached more than $110 per barrel, the highest in seven years. A large percentage of the world's crude oil consumption comes from Russia, so the war has a definite impact on everyone.

Surely, the increase in the price of gasoline and diesel will also increase the prices of many things, particularly the fare of public transport. Operators and drivers will not be able to absorb such a huge price increase. Many other things will increase in prices such as goods and services. The excise tax imposed during the implementation of the TRAIN Law must be removed. Ordinary people will suffer too much because of the excise tax if the government does not heed their pleas.

Oil-producing countries have always held the world by the neck. So far Russia has not reduced oil output but because many companies are joining in imposing sanctions for their unjustified invasion of Ukraine, the number of buyers of Russian oil has reduced, causing a shortage. OPEC member countries like Saudi Arabia have refrained from increasing daily oil output because of an agreement with Russia to maintain world prices after losing much revenue brought about by the pandemic. The Saudi monarchy seems to be friendlier with Russia than the US after the revelation of the former’s involvement in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi assassins were closely connected to Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. This has soured the ties of both countries. Saudi Arabia has not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nor has participated in any form of sanctions. An analyst warns that if Russia weaponizes oil, “all bets are off”. Whatever that translates to is not good.

Russia's indiscriminate bombing of cities in Ukraine, including civilian settlements, continues. There are videos of apparent cluster munitions raining down on a residential community. President Zelenskyy has asked for additional military assistance so that they could continue to defend their country. No one believes Russia’s claim that they are not targeting civilians. When have they ever told the truth in times of war? A new law was recently passed penalizing those spreading “fake news” about the war. By “fake news” it means news outlets reporting the truth. Any criticism of the invasion will result in imprisonment. This prompted many news agencies to pull out their reporters from Russia. That’s Russia under Putin. More must be done to convince Putin to stop the invasion and pull out of Ukraine and return the whole world back to normal, just when we were getting over the pandemic.