We told you so.

Such was the reaction of transport groups and anti-oil “cartel” crusaders following the P0.50 per liter hike on pump prices implemented by petroleum companies at different times Tuesday.

At 12 a.m. Tuesday, major oil firm Pilipinas Shell added P0.50 to its retail prices of diesel and gasoline. Following suit at 6 a.m. was another big oil company in Petron Corp., along with smaller players Total Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, and Phoenix Petroleum.

Aside from jacking up prices of diesel and gasoline, Petron and Seaoil announced that they would also increase its prices of kerosene by the same increments. Another smaller player, Eastern Petroleum, added P0.50 per liter to its prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene effective at Tuesday noon.

The oil companies said the adjustment was to reflect the increase of imported crude costs in Asia, particularly the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) which reached $86 per barrel. This brought up the average retail price of fuel in Metro Manila to as follows: P34.50 for diesel; P44.50 for gasoline (unleaded); and P45 for kerosene.

Although Tuesday’s fuel price hikes were not as hefty as those in past months, it was still enough to offset the two rollbacks implemented by the same companies last March 22 and 30. Pump prices were slashed by P0.25 per liter on both occasions.

Efren de Luna, president of the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations (ACTO), said that consumers should not be surprised with the oil firms’ latest adjustment.

“Style nila yan. Magpapatupad muna sila ng maliliit na rollback tapos tatamaan ka nila ng malaking increase,” De Luna said. (“That’s their style.  They’ll impose small rollbacks at first then they will hit you with a bigger increase.”)

Before the pair of P0.25 price cuts, oil firms actually increased their prices of diesel and kerosene by P2.50 per liter and those of gasoline by another P3 per liter between February 23 and March 16.

Feeling the pinch of the hikes, ACTO has already filed for a petition to raise minimum jeepney fare from P7 to P8 before the before the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

Meanwhile, the Social Justice Society (SJS), a group of lawyers that has been questioning the alleged cartel being maintained by big and small oil companies, again slammed the lack of transparency which they claimed is endemic of the local oil industry.

Lawyer Vladimir Cabigao, SJS spokesperson, thus challenged the oil firms to make public their product inventories as well the computations they use in coming up with fuel prices so that consumers are not kept in the dark.