Fare hike!

i just realized today how significant the P1.50 fare hike is and how it could easily eat up the little change that's left clinging to my pocket. i was definitely unprepared for it. inflationary forces are again at work to make my life miserable. i guess one should expect it in a free market economy, the state having relinquished its power to regulate the prices of basic commodities.

but i do wonder why the increase had to be a sudden hike of P1.50 rather than historical increases of 50 cents. was the fuel hike that bad? isn't saudi going to increase its output? and if the prices rollback, will the fare go as well? i doubt it. i actually remember paying P2 for a jeepney ride way back in the early 1990's, and fretting over the 50 cent increase, which took place because of the gulf war i think. i thought it was a temporary arrangement and once the world returns to stability, the old 2 peso fare would return. a decade later, it hasn't. but a P1.50 increase is just too much, especially for a stingy guy like me.