By MYLA IGLESIAS

If you feel you are already paying too much for P43 per liter of diesel, grit your teeth you will have to shell out another P6 per liter or P49 per liter of diesel within the month.

Gas companies yesterday served notice that they still have underrecoveries of P6 per liter on top of the recent P2 per liter price hikes.

Edgar Chua, country chairman of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., yesterday said the adjustments will be heaviest on diesel.

"People can get some relief in gasoline but in diesel it will increase" He said

On the Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices, oil firms said that after the P 1 increase per 11 kg cylinder over the weekend they tend to recover additional P 2 in the coming weeks with the continuous increase in world price.

Oil companies refused to say whether adjustments would be done P0.50 or P1 per liter weekly or twice weekly.

Nicasio Alcantara, Petron chairman, said Petron is studying if it can adjust prices at 50 centavos per liter every weekend until July.

PTT Philippines Corp has been increasing prices at 50 centavos three times a week.

Sycip, Gorres and Velayo (SGV) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) a independent body conducting a study oil firms' pricing said that based on their initial study in the period of January 2007 to January 2008 the increase in the local pump prices is reasonable, with companies just catching up in international price increases as global prices are jumping at a faster rate than local prices.

" Domestic prices has not gone up as much as international prices"

For the government part, Angelo Reyes energy secretary said that the government has no mitigating measures on how to lessen the impact of the continuous increase in the market. But emphasized that the government will make sure the price increase is reasonable and transparent to the public.

He added that SGV will continue its study on firms' profitability.

" The objective of the forum , is to assure that there is a transparent in the pricing of the oil products , as the DOE wants to protect the public But in oil deregulation , there are enough safeguards we can't determine and dictate the prices we can't discuss and cartel prices because that is against the law" He said

" DOE is protecting the consuming public and we have to monitor the prices, the regime of high prices is the reality and we have to work on it together".

On the possibility of removing the E-VAT on oil, Reyes said that they would discuss it with congress because suspending the VAT required amendment of the law.

" EVAT is a law, the executive can't suspend any implementation of the law, if we will suspend the E-VAT, we have to amend the law" He said.

According to the Department of Energy, as of May 2008, unleaded gasoline is pegged at $ 123.73 per barrel up by 20 percent from the start of the year, its 9 increase and 2 rollback as of January.