As media workers return from the Lenten break, or get rest from special coverage for the Holy Week, they face the prospect of even higher fuel prices that erode salaries that are already stretched.

With pump prices seen reaching as high as P170/liter for diesel and around P115/liter for gasoline, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines calls on newsrooms to implement policies to help their workers cope with rising costs and with a potentially lower supply of public utility vehicles.

While field reporters are correctly expected to be at their beats and many production staff are required to work on site, support staff like desk people, social media producers, and artists can benefit from work-at-home arrangements that will at least help them reduce transportation and other costs.

Such arrangements can also help employers lower overhead costs and help ensure that the limited fuel in the country is used on necessary trips.

The pandemic lockdowns have shown that media workers remain productive and dedicated to their duties — in many cases, performing above and beyond requirements — even when working remotely.

NUJP also urges the provision of transportation allowances for reporters and correspondents, especially for those who are not provided crew cabs and service vehicles.

At the very least, correspondents should not be left to subtract their transport expenses from the per piece payment of a few hundred pesos they get from newsrooms.

The media community has helped each other through countless crises in the past, but our resilience is no license for media corporations to set aside their duty to care for their staff.