But unaware that the price of regular gas increased from $4.20 to $4.25 when he purchased $5 worth of fuel on Saturday, Mesa drove to Kagman confident that he could still make it back to Garapan.
On his way back home, however, his engine died while driving uphill on Kagman Road.
Mesa said that was when he realized that the price of gasoline had gone up, again.
Leaving his car in front of the Joeten store, Mesa had to jog uphill all the way to Mobil, the nearest filling station. He also had to borrow a container so he could buy gasoline.
Mesa said next time, he won’t use his car’s air-conditioning unit.
After midnight on Friday, Shell Marianas increased its regular gas price by 5 cents to $4.25; its premium from $4.52 to $4.57; and diesel from $4.41 to $4.51.
A gasoline attendant, who requested anonymity, said their head office does not usually tell them the reason for price increases.
Ian Montera, a building maintenance staffer, said he was unaware of the latest increase because it happened during the weekend when he was staying at home.
“But what can we do? We will always need gas for our car,” said Montera who filled his company’s Toyota Tacoma with $5 worth of fuel yesterday.
Tess, a store employee in Garapan, said everybody is affected.
When the price of gasoline went up last month, she said they had to increase the price of their eggs from $1.69 to $2.09 per tray after their suppliers changed the price due to the increase in shipping costs.
With the new increase in gasoline price, she said they expect the prices of their basic commodities to also increase.
Larry Briones, a hotel employee, said the total price increases in the past year are enough to buy a meal.
He said every increase in gasoline price reduces an individual’s budget for food.
