Riding on Consumer Ignorance

We Filipinos seem to be so much pre-occupied with the rise and fall of pump fuel prices and blames oil companies. Some even goes to the extent of demanding probe of the companies' books. But it is not just fuel, it is also true for every commodity, be it rice, flour, meat, fish, vegetables, spare parts, and a million other commodities. So why raise hell for just one commodity? Why don't they similarly investigate the books of a fish or vegetable dealer, or even notebook and pencil manufacturers?

Consider this argument. The rise and fall of fuel pump prices is a consequence of global trade, of supply and demand, the cornerstone of free trade. We should be thankful that global recession has reduced demand for oil. But this wont last long. As the global economy picks up again (it is actually picking up), fuel prices would surely rise and would reach, if not breach its highest level.

Media news and articles prod the government to take action. In reality little could be done by government to suppress how companies price their products. It is free trade. Installing price control and subsidies is expensive, distort prices. Funds to support subsidies could be taken from support of basic services such as education, heath and social welfare. However, much more could be done by the consumers, which NEVER raise a howl and complain because it leaves this function to the government or through our jeepney and bus drivers, the latter do so for vested interest.

The consumers could do the following:
1. Efficient use of fuel and its derivaties - this would reduce demand for more oil. What happened in this country was that the low fuel prices has made every Juan de la Cruz return to excessive use of fuel, making unnecessary trips that triggered massive traffic jams and resulted in even more fuel being burned and more greenhouse gasses being emitted.

2. live a green lifestyle - reduce, reuse and recycle, be it from plastics, bottles, cans. Choose products that is free of fossil fuel and its derivaties.

3. pressure government to invest in renewable energies (REs) - this is where government needs to take action, invest in research, support companies that promote REs, promote low carbon development in all aspects of life and forget about letting the oil companies to lead on this RE development. They will simply hinder it. Q: Why do you think electric cars never took off? A: because a major US-based company bought the patent of electric cars and simply don't want to produce them. They bought the patent so nobody could promote it.

4. don't believe everything what the media tell us - Many of us are ignorant on the economics of market and trade. Because of this, the media (whether knowingly and unknowingly)manipulates what they want the public to hear and to believe. READ and BE informed of both sides of the issue. Use the information available in the WEB.

5. As consumers, let us make more noise because, for every centavos increase in fuel prices, in transport fares that is added to the cost of goods, it is always passed to us CONSUMERS that pays for it. When jeepney drivers ask for a raise and held a strike, it is for their own good, not us. But it is us consumers who pays for all this. We could not go to work, we loose a day's income. What did we do? NOTHING!!!!

WHY?
1. because we are ignorant of our consumer rights - often we shiver at the thought of "no return no exchange policy"
2. because culturally, we are not a complaining people. we are simply ashamed to complain and demand our consumer rights and priveleges. why are there no class suits filed against the owners of many bankrupt pre-need plan companies?
3. because perhaps of amor propio - misused to mean that we consider ourselves destitute if we demand that we get an exact change from supermarkets instead of getting a piece of lead-laden labelled candies.

And because we are ignorant and ashamed, businesses exploit us. WE SHOULD GET OUT OF THIS "IGNORANCE TRAP".