Shuttling regularly by air between Manila and his home city of Davao, President Duterte is starting to feel the pain of rising airfares. Government authorities have refrained from pinning the blame for the nine-year-high inflation rate on the tax reform law and the fuel excise tax as the administration pushes for TRAIN 2. But the higher airfare is just the latest consequence of the combination of high crude oil prices and the fuel excise tax. The country cannot do anything about world crude oil prices, but the government can do something about the fuel excise tax. With economic managers refusing to budge on this, however, and the President listening to them, there is little relief in sight for surging food costs.

Source: Philippine Star September 16, 2018 15:33 UTC