Oil, what’s it to you?

Oil is at a record high at around 140USD a barrel. There is ample enough supply say several oil ministers. The probem lies with the traders and speculators the world over. The price of oil can be artificially increased via the markets. I still don’t know how they do it but they are able to do it. Add to that the political instability that some of the world’s suppliers of oil are undergoing. The traders get nervous when bombs near pipes and wells go off.

This is all well and good in a macroeconomic sense. The rules of supply and demand are still at play with a little interference from speculators. 

But what does oil mean to the average individual on the street?

I can tell you what oil is not to them, oil is not 140USD a barrel, it is not a bargaining chip to get more concessions from buyers. Oil for the average individual is nearing 60 Pesos a liter. Oil is the new cost of sacks. 

Oil in the trickle-down sense is no commodity traded almost every minute. It is a vise, turning and twisting, extracting the last drop of life from the wallets of the normal person.

I used to take a car everyday from my house to school. One end of EDSA to the other. I had to contend with the traffic then but that didn’t matter, the car brought me freedom. I was free to leave the house and go to school any time I wanted. I was quite literally the captain of my own vessel. I paid no heed to the rising fuel prices. I thought then that I’ll just turn off the airconditioning when I get to around 60kph. Fuel was cheap and money was no object. Why crowd with people in the MRT when you can ride in the comfort of your own vehicle? Why wait for the train, bus, taxi or jeep to arrive when you called the shots with driving your own car? 

The car symbolized freedom. I was my own boss.

Sadly, geopolitics and economics intervened. The cost of crude went up. I remember the predictions of financial institutions a few years ago that oil might max out at 100USD a barrel. We apparently have broken that prediction today. Oil has not dropped since. The end result today is 50Php a liter of diesel and nearly 60php a liter for gasoline. Every time I use a vehicle going to Makati city and back means that I consume around 200 pesos for fuel. Another 50 for parking. Another 100 or so for food. Plus 100 for unexpected expenses like photocopying materials. A few months ago that 200 pesos for fuel figure was non-existent. The rising cost of oil has hurt those who drive vehicles a lot the most. I say most because I see it that way. I cannot speak for the masses who have no food or shelter. 

I have given up my vehicle. My symbol of freedom.

I now take public transportation to and from school. 

I have to wake up earlier, go to school earlier, and be more patient. I have to jockey for spots in the MRT daily. I have to think fast and get on the jeep quick to get to school.

In exchange for giving up my vehicle I have gained a new appreciation for the everyday worker who takes public transportation to work. “Tiyaga” is a word that fits all of those who commute. A determination to get to work and do something that will hopefully chip away at the behemoth of poverty that their families face. 

What’s oil to me? Or rather the lack of it? 

It’s gaining a new appreciation for those who actually run our country. The janitors in our offices and schools. The construction workers who build our infrastructure. The cashiers who charge us VAT. Thanks to the high price of fuel I could not have seen their faces 6 inches away from mine. I could not have overheard their stories in cramped train cars. I could not have smelled their soap and shampoo while lining up for the jeep.

Thank you speculators and political destabilizers.