Oil price hike: drivers suffer a lot!

March 15, 2022

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Writing in this middle of the night, I thought I wouldn't publish an article today and just spend my day reading and commenting on others' articles but while scrolling on Facebook I saw a post from a friend, and that makes me sad even make me teary-eyed after reading that. Until now my heart is heavy.

Do you know someone who works as a driver? Jeepney, taxi, tricycle, and all drivers who rent or own a car and use this as their source of income.

They are one of the people that are very much affected by the oil price hike that was happening these few days and there's speculation that it will become more expensive sooner or later because there is a limited supply of oil. We are all affected by the ongoing war between the two countries. Prices of the commodities are getting higher and we, that belongs to the middle and lower class are the one who suffered the most.

While scrolling on Facebook I saw a post from a friend about her encounter with a jeepney driver that she was riding.

She shared on her post that while she was riding a jeep tonight the driver told them that he just heading to the gas station to have gas. She's thinking while they took longer in the gas station and noticed that the jeepney driver was counting the coins on his earnings and she heard what the driver said.

Here's what the driver said:

"I thought the full tank will only cost P1000+($20) but didn't expect that it will reach P1500($28.68)."

"All I earned will just go to the payment of gas. And all that was left to me was P50($1)." And he added that the pay for the boundary is not yet complete and that cost P600($11.46).

"I might not drive a jeep for a while" this is the last statement of the driver.

The one who posted on the FB gave P100($2) to the driver, the driver didn't get it first but she insisted.

It makes me sad reading this. My heart is still heavy now that I need to write what I feel to lessen the sadness that I am feeling right now. Oil price hike makes the drivers suffer a lot, given that this is one of the main things that they need to drive a jeep. What they earned isn't enough to pay for the price of the gas. So guys, when you ride a jeep, don't do 123 (not paying for the ride), or if you don't need much the P1 or P2 change just give it to them all, it will be a great help to them. Imagine they are driving for almost 18 hours and dealing with the hotness of weather yet their earnings are not enough to feed their family because of the price hike to think that the commodities price are getting higher also. Sooner or later, many public drivers were not going to drive because they will think that it is not enough to provide for their family's needs.

I hope their voices will be heard of the people who are in higher positions and help them. Though I saw in the news that there is cash assistance for the drivers but I don't think that will last long for them.

So if you think that your life is hard because of the stress and problem that you are dealing with right now, think that they are people out there who suffer more pain and hardships compared to us. Some people have bigger problems than us.

We need to pray for peacefulness. Hopefully, PEACE will stand out so that all will be back to normal. We are still dealing with the pandemic and yet the ongoing war is added to our worries.

To all drivers out there, I salute you for still keeping going even in the worst situation. May God bless you all and answer your prayers.

Closing thoughts

What I've read is affecting my good so much. I shared this here because I want to voice out what I am feeling, also I don't want to go to sleep with a heavy heart. We should be thankful for what we have, we shouldn't whine about the things we don't have because some people have bigger problems compared to us. We should value every cent that we have because in others it will be very important to them, this will help them a lot. And lastly, we should be kind. If we have extra we shouldn't hesitate to give.

To all my sponsors, thank you for staying in my sponsorship block. Your support is highly appreciated.

-Loveleng18