By Genalyn Kabiling The country is "in trouble" whenever prices of oil products continue to increase in the world market and affect local prices, President Duterte said Sunday. President Rodrigo Duterte (Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) The President told the nation to brace for "suffering" since the country was an oil importer, not an oil producer like some neighbors in the region. "You know because every time there is an increase in oil prices, if it’s 60, it’s 60 per barrel, we are in trouble. And I will admit to the Filipino nation that it could not just be something like a huge inflation. It will redound to something like almost suffering," he said during a book launch at the Manila Hotel last Sunday. "Gusto kong umiyak kasi -- I don’t know how much of the gross domestic product would eat into our income sa dito," he said. Duterte made the remarks after the government announced it was considering to suspend the increase of excise tax on oil products next year to help tame the high inflation. The tax reform law includes a provision that would allow the government to suspend the next increase of the fuel excise tax in January 2019 if the three-month average of Dubai oil reaches $80 per barrel. The President, meantime, urged the public "not to castigate or crucify our country" over its economic status since it does not have good fortune of having its own oil resources. He noted Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei were "awash with oil" while the Philippines had none.