LUCENA CITY — With the latest oil price increases, the public should prepare for the eventual rise in the prices of fish and vegetables sold in the markets.

“An increase in production cost means an additional few pesos in the prices of their favorite fish, be it galunggong (mackerel scad) or lapu-lapu (grouper),” said Noly Yu, a Quezon-based commercial fisher.

He noted that prices of seafood are traditionally high during the “ber” (September to December) months.

“Now, with the oil price hike, it will be a double whammy,” Yu said.

He said commercial fishers spend more for fuel for their fishing fleet as their fishing grounds are far from the shoreline.

In the coastal village of Dalahican, small fishermen also assailed the oil price increases.

“We have to spend an additional P75 to P100 for every fishing trip for our fuel. The amount would eat up the profits from whatever fish catch we sell in the market,” said fisherman Ramon Tambolyo, adding that the government should give small fishermen a gas subsidy.

The manager of a vegetable trading post in Quezon said vegetable farmers and traders would suffer with the increase in the prices of petroleum products.

“Additional business costs will jack up the prices of food products which could force consumers to refrain from buying,” said Ariel Mañalac, administrator of the Sentrong Pamilihan ng Produktong Agrikultura ng Quezon Foundation Inc.

Mañalac said that many vegetable traders suffered heavy losses when gas stations temporarily stopped operations to protest the oil price freeze.

“Most of the [vegetable] traders stopped doing business for a couple of days due to unstable supply of gas and diesel,” he said.

In Lucena City, gasoline stations have been limiting pump sales to P500 per vehicle for the past few days. One Petron gas station even capped the sale at P300.

A gas station attendant claimed that they were running out of stocks.

Gas stations here sell premium gas at P43.41, unleaded, P42.71 and diesel, P29.85, up by between P1.50 and P2 per liter. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon