✍︎ Julia Marie Estrella
There’s a global crisis unfolding, with conflict intensifying across the Middle East—and even if it’s happening miles away, its consequences are hitting hard right here in the Philippines. Fuel prices keep rising. Basic goods follow. Every commute, every meal, every day becomes more expensive.
So again—if you’re not angry yet, why not?
This is not just some distant “international issue” we can ignore. Yes, we didn’t start the war. But what exactly is our government doing while ordinary Filipinos carry the burden of its consequences? Where is the urgency? Where is the action?
Public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers are being crushed. They wake up every day knowing that fuel prices have gone up again—but their income hasn’t. They’re forced to stretch what little they earn, sometimes choosing between boundary payments, fuel, and feeding their families. And when fares increase, they’re the ones blamed.
Minimum wage earners? They’re barely surviving. What used to be just enough is now painfully insufficient. Salaries stay the same, but everything else keeps climbing. The system expects them to endure, adjust, and stay silent.
And the government?
Slow. Passive. Almost invisible.
In times like this, people don’t need empty statements—they need decisive action. Fuel subsidies, immediate relief for the transport sector, real economic interventions—these are not luxuries. These are necessities. And yet, what we see are delays, vague promises, and a frustrating lack of urgency.
At what point do we stop accepting this?
Because this isn’t just about rising fuel prices. It’s about leadership. It’s about accountability. It’s about whether those in power actually feel the weight of what ordinary people are going through—or if they’re comfortably detached from it.
You don’t need to be an economist to see that something is deeply wrong. You don’t need to be directly affected to recognize injustice.
So if you’re still calm, still indifferent—ask yourself why.
Why are we tolerating this?
Because while everything else continues to rise—prices, costs, struggles—our standards for leadership seem to be falling. And if we don’t demand better, if we don’t question, if we don’t get angry—then nothing will change.
