For boat owner Marcial Arong, P1,000 now feels like P100
CEBU, Philippines – Tourism-related businesses in Cebu are facing heavy losses as rising fuel prices have reduced the number of customers and made operating costs skyrocket.
Orlich Ompad, a boat owner and operator of Orlich Island Hopping and Tours in Mactan Island, said that fuel costs for their island tours have tripled since fuel prices rose sharply after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran. at the end of February.
The owner of the boat explained that they currently have to spend up to P1,500 to get 10 liters of fuel from the previous P500 for 10 liters due to rise in oil prices as well as the high demand for fuel among the owners of pumping boats in Mactan. The island in the center of the Philippines is a major tourist hub and is home to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the main gateway to the province of Cebu and other destinations in the Central Visayas region.
“We can only travel once a week (We can only travel once a week),” Ompad told Rappler on Monday, April 6.
According to Ompad, the minimum rent for a boat is around P5,000: P1,500 cost for fuel, around P500 for maintenance, and the remaining amount to be divided between the boat owner, and the boat operators.
Ompad said they could not increase charter rates even if they wanted to because of the large number of competing boat operators and the lack of interested customers.
“If we raise the price, no one will object…Imagine there are only two guests, then how many employees (If we increase the price, no one will hire us… Imagine, you will only get two guests, and you have a number of workers),” Ompad said.
A few local tourists
John Hanlon, diver and manager at Malapascua Beach and Dive Resort in Malapascua Island, told Rappler on Tuesday, April 7, that hotels are also underbooked due to a dwindling pool of customers.
“There are a few locals who come because with foreigners, they come here specifically for diving but local tourism has been poor,” Hanlon said.
According to the diver, the cost of transportation to reach Malapascua Island has increased due to the price of fuel. Hanlon shared that taking a V-hire car from Cebu City to Maya Port now costs P400, which was P300.
He added that boat trips from Port Maya to Malapascua have also increased to P250 from P200.
“I think in the next few weeks, it’s going to start to affect us more because it’s going to be more expensive to bring in things like beer and all the other stocks because it’s going to be harder for people to get here (Malapascua),” Hanlon said.
A gambler to live
Many jobs are now at risk.
“Our life here is a lot of gambling (Our ways here are very gambling),” Marcial Arong, a boat owner in Mactan, told Rappler.
Arong shared that he supports six children who are still in school. To survive, he said, their family now has to ask for loans from neighbors.
The boat owner was hoping that the recent Holy Week celebration would bring in as many customers as in previous years. However, not many came to avail their services this year.
On finding customers, Arong said that he has to worry about finding a replacement for his damaged boat engine, and making sure that thieves do not burn or steal their fuel supply while their boat is on standby.
According to Ompad and Arong, a brand new boat engine would cost an average of P100,000 while an engine repair would cost at least P50,000.
“Today, a thousand is only a hundred (Now, a thousand is worth a hundred),” Arong added.
As the conflict in the Middle East continues, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Tuesday, April 7, that inflation in the Philippines rose to 4.1% in March – almost twice the rate of inflation of 2.4% in February.
Boat owners like Ompad and Arong are just hoping that the Marcos administration will find a solution soon as their fellow island hopping operators in their community have started temporarily suspending their services due to the high cost of fuel.
“We just wish that Filipinos would not suffer (We just hope that Filipinos don’t have to continue to struggle like this),” Arong said. – Rappler.com
