Living here in the Philippines, if there’s one query I can count on getting regularly, it’s “How Much is Gas in the Philippines”?
America grew up around gas prices … and for the average visitor here … say in their 30, 40′s or 50′s, they can hardly remember a time when gas prices weren’t a huge topic.
I, on the other hand, grew up when gas prices were hardly ever an issue. When I was in high school, for example, I had a job pumping gas after school. (remember when people pumped your gas for you? Bonus question, name three places where that still happens today?)
One thing I never had much occasion to do was changing the gas prices on the pumps or the station’s signs … regular was $0.29.9 per gallon and premium was $0.34.9 per gallon … set by what was called in my state, Mew Jersey, the “Fair Trade law”.
Anyway, in answer to the common query here in the Philippines, here’s the receipt for my latest fuel purchase.
I Still Had 15 Liters Left
I use diesel in my 2006 Mitsubishi Adventure … in the Philippines I definitely recommend a diesel car or van.
Unlike in the US where diesel almost always costs more because of special Federal taxes that add on more than a dollar a gallon, in the Philippines, along with most of the rest of the world, diesel is always cheaper than gasoline. Figure 2 to 5 pesos per liter more for gasoline.
The main reason, though, I recommend diesel is the amount of time you will inevitably spend stuck in traffic, idling away your fuel to run the air conditioner. Diesel engines are about 5 times more efficient than gasoline engines when idling.
Anyway, what did I get (aside from a windshield and rear window wash and my tires aired up)?
40.6 lieters of “FS “(Fuel Save) diesel. At 3.785 liters per gallon, that’s ~ 10.7 US gallons.
At the current rate of exchange, 1892 Philippine Pesos comes up to about $44.33 USD, or $4.13 per gallon.
So there’s the current answer to the perpetual question of how much is gas in the Philippines.
A couple things worth noting.
Notice the detail level of the receipt. This is pretty common in the Philippines, where every cash register and POS (pont Of Sale) terminal is government regulated and licensed.
Notice also the amount of VAT (Value Added Tax) I paid. About $.23 on a 10 gallon gas sale.
There are a number of good income tax advantages to living in the Philippines … but never forget you are going to pay a VAT … akin to a sales tax, on almost every thing … and it adds up.
Anyway, another day of Living in the Philippines … it’s all good, except those times that it isn’t.
Dave: Well, in the States, New Jersey and Oregon they pump for you, by law. Elsewhere, Italy, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, and Indonesia all have attendants that pump for you (I’m probably missing a few as well)
Yep. New Jersey and Oregon were the answers I was looking for. It’s always interesting to me that while the other 48 states make people pump their own gas, often citing the cost of labor, New jersey, in particular, normally has cheaper gas than the surrounding states, even though the law does not allow self-serve gas. So who is kidding whom on this? Just another example of government supported abuse of the American worker, IMO.
In the Philippines, gas is always pumped for you. Also, as in days gone by when we used to call them “service stations” in the US, Philippine gas stations typically provide actual “service”. There are pluses and minuses in living here, gas staions are on the “plus” list in my book.
Interesting bit of gasoline trivia for you, Dave.
In Singapore, gasoline is extremely expensive due to very high taxes… Nearly twice as much as in neighboring Malaysia (Malaysia is about the same as here, Singapore hovers around US$8 per gal.). The Singapore government tries to discourage car ownership and driving due to traffic and lack of land for car parks (Gas tax is nothing… Your vehicle license plate can cost up to S$70K… OUCH!).
So, if you hire a car in Singapore and want to drive across the causeway into Malaysia, Singapore customs checks your fuel gauge at the border… If you have less than 3/4 tank you have two choices: Either pay a S$100 tax on the spot, or turn around and go back to Singapore. They do this for every car in order to keep people from filling up in JB. (My father grew up in El Paso… Long before the violence there, people used to drive to Juarez to fill up at around 1/2 price)
I din’t know that about Singapore, John. Pretty interesting. You know most US States operate the same way regarding commercial vehicles? Those “weigh stations” or “ports of entry” you see at state borders aren’t just weighing trucks, they are also collecting state tax on fuel in they tanks, or making drivers pay in advance for the fuel they “might” buy in the state they are entering, etc.
Also, through a program called the IFTA (Intrastate Fuel Tax Alliance), most commercial vehicles in the US have to file quarterly mileage reports detailing how many miles they have driven in what state(s), and then the IFTA bookkeepers allocate fuels taxes to the various states depending on road use. This was a big selling point when I was in the GPS tracking business, my system printed out monthly mileage reports per vehicle, so the bookkeeping could be simplified.
The US tax structure is really regressive when t comes to interstate commerce, the average guy/gal not in that field has no idea just how convoluted owning a fleet of trucks can be.
Dave: I can see where your GPS system could be a HUGE help in removing / streamlining paperwork. I knew that trucks paid gas taxes to each state, but didn’t know about paying tax in advance on fuel they might purchase. Learn something new every day!
Ohio is one state I know does (or did). Incidentally I erred before it is not the “Interstate” Fuel Tax Association, but the International FTA, International becuase they also cover Mexican cvross-border program and all of Canada as well.
There is also the IRP, International registry Plan which tracks miles in each state and apportions a trucks miles driven in each state based on it’s home state registration fees. This also requires continual mileage reports per state traveled. Avoids having to buy a license plate for each state you might travel in as was once the practice.
It ain’t easy to be a trucker
Edmore Michigan…they pump the gas for you. BTW — I must be older than you folks. I remember when gas costs 19.9 per gallon in Kansas. Now those were the days.
I recall sub 20 cents a gallon, also, when I lived on the air base and they were having gas wars.
Which means you are old too, like me LoL
Hi Dave:
A little food for thought, in 1964 in San Diego Cal. regular leaded gas was $.22.9 per gallon and it was still pumped by the station, in 1955 it was $.22.9 in San Diego, self service was unheard of. We had a 1948 Caddie Limo a real gas guzzler which we used to tow a 42 ft Air Stream Trailer.
When I arrived here in Oct. 2001, gas was P .22+ per liter, an the dollar was 50P, on Feb 6 we paid P54.52 per liter and the dollar was 42+ P
A 14.3 tank of Shellane was 425P, She just paid 960+ for tank the other day
I know you realize this Dave, but you should point out that even at the supposed high cost of fuel there, your consumption is much lower than here in the US. Remember, most drivers here drive an average of 15,000 miles per year and that computes to over $3,000 annually spent on fuel costs. Not to mention tolls, tires, oil changes, upkeep, etc. So overall the cost of auto ownership, even though considered a luxury in PI, is relatively cheap. By the way, rumors here have gasoline approaching $5.00 p/gal by summer.
Good point, Randy. I was trying to keep it short for a change LoL. What many Americans don’t realize is that even if they get their own car in the Philippines (which is nowhere near as ‘essential to life” as owning your own car in the USA), there is no way on will ever drive as much use as much gas or diesel here as in the USA, I just came in from my car, matter of fact, and since I wrote that post/bought that tank of diesel, I have traveled a grand total of 32 kilometers. Many times I can’t even remember the last tme I filled up. Gas/diesel is not the ‘elixir of life’ as it is for many in the USA, where one might drive 15 miles just to go to the grocery store.
Hey Dave,
Well the price of gas there in RP seems a bit higher than here in RI, but when you figure all the other mandatory crap/expenses that comes along with driving here, the RP seems oddly enough like a bargain to me.
At present it is 3.73 per gallon here and rapidly rising, so I am wearing a Navy Flight Gear and riding my HD to get around.
You just won’t/can’t drive as much here as in the USA. Also, as you point out, license plaes, insurance and such are a LOT cheaper here.
Mississippi is murder on NEW car tags. They add a VAT (value added tax) based on the age of the vehicle. A new truck here would cost you approximately $650 for first years registration. As a result though, property taxes are much lower than most places in the country. They get you one way or another I guess. I’m just looking forward to not spending all them $$$ for maintaining/operating two vehicles.
Dave,
Pretty soon the US will be paying more than the Philippines gas is already 4.14 in some state and diesel add a dollar more. All because of this push for green engery what a crock.
By the way I guess that the dealerships over there sell diesel cars are they cheaper tham gas driven cars?
You know, I can’t answer that one on diesel versus gas cars. There are a number of models built in both gas and diesel versions. A good project for me to check on.