AFTER more than three weeks, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. finally admitted that there’s a crisis that requires drastic measures if only to prevent the country from drowning.
This comes as Marcos declared a national emergency at a time when everything that the government worked hard for seemed to be falling apart – skyrocketing prices of fuel, food, utilities, among others are either scarce or unaffordable in view of the escalating war in the Middle East.
People have started complaining about everything.
The declaration came much later after he prepositioned aid programs for public utility drivers and indigent families whose meager means could hardly buy a decent meal.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 110
Through Executive Order No. 110, the President said the emergency declaration is meant to address the imminent danger of the Middle East conflict on the availability and stability of the country’s energy supply.
The government through the UPLIFT program (or the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport will adopt a coordinated, whole-of-government response framework to ensure stable domestic energy supply, uninterrupted essential services, and continued economic activity and protecting the welfare of the citizens, especially in vulnerable sectors.
The framework includes energy supply management measures to be implemented by the Department of Energy and its attached agencies, the Inquirer reported.
The Uplift Committee will be chaired by the President with the following Cabinet secretaries as members – the executive secretary, and the secretaries of energy, transportation, social welfare and development, agriculture, finance, economy, planning and development, and budget and management.
The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development for its part shall serve as the secretariat of the committee and provide the essential technical and administrative support.
HUMONGOUS TASKS
Among its functions are monitoring and ensuring the continued and orderly movement, supply, distribution, and availability of fuel, food, medicines, agricultural products, and other essential goods; checking the continuity of the operation of public transportation, public services, public utilities, health-care facilities, and other critical establishments and infrastructure; and safeguarding economic stability while protecting vulnerable sectors from adverse impacts and severe disruptions caused by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
The committee is also mandated to ensure the timely, efficient, unhampered delivery of public services; formulate longer-term demand-side solutions and strategies to decrease consumption of petroleum products; constitute subcommittees as may be necessary, and invite other departments to support the effective implementation of EO 110.
Marcos instructed DoE to take appropriate measures to protect the stability and adequacy of the country’s energy supply and cushion the adverse effects of disruptions in global energy supply markets.
HAS YET TO RECOVER
The country is currently under a yearlong state of national calamity, following Marcos’ declaration in November last year as a result of the devastation caused by Typhoon “Tino” (international name: Kalmaegi).
Among the conditions specified by a pending measure granting the President the authority to reduce or suspend the fuel excise is the declaration of a national calamity or emergency and the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), or the daily average of fuel prices traded in the city-state, reaching or exceeding $80 per barrel for one month, the Inquirer reported.
The House on Tuesday transmitted to the Senate the final version of the fuel excise measures, House Bill No. 8418 and Senate Bill No. 1982.
House Bill 8418, transmitted yesterday to the Senate, authorizes the President to suspend or reduce fuel excise taxes during emergencies. It aims to reduce high fuel prices caused by global market volatility, specifically targeting relief for consumers when oil exceeds $80 per barrel.
SUSPENDING EXCISE TAX
The bill empowers the President to suspend or reduce fuel excise taxes upon recommendation of the Development Budget Coordination Committee and the DoE.
Suspensions can be effective for up to six months, extendable for a maximum aggregate of one year, with authority remaining until Dec. 31, 2028.
The bill was certified urgent by President Marcos, approved by the House with a 247-3-0 vote on March 16, 2026.
The Philippines had an average of 45 days’ supply of fuel as of March 20, down from 55 to 57 days’ supply when the war in the Middle East started nearly a month ago, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said.
In a press conference on Tuesday, March 24, Garin said the country’s supply of LPG was at 23 days, jet fuel at 38 days, diesel at 45 days, gasoline at 53 days, fuel oil at 61 days, and kerosene at 97 days.
REGULATING DEMAND
Philippines fuel supply calculations are all based on the Philippines’ average daily demand from April to September 2025.
“Kung tataas po ‘yan, iiksi po ‘yung number of days natin. Kung steady lang siya, 45 days ‘yan,” Garin said, adding that fuel conservation by everyone can prolong the supply.
She said the situation was not yet alarming since the average supply had not gone down to 15 days.
Garin described the supply as still “manageable,” adding that the state-owned Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) is working to increase buffer stocks by 1 million barrels of fuel (pegged at P10 billion) for an additional week.
The PNOC has already contracted an additional 400,000 barrels of fuel and is negotiating another 600,000 barrels.
She said the government has had “successful dialogues” with South Korea, India, Japan, and even China on increasing the Philippines’ fuel inventory.
CALL FOR CONSERVATION
Garin appealed to the public and private sectors to conserve fuel, and for petroleum businesses not to engage in profiteering.
In terms of prices, the energy chief said the price increase this week would range from P8 to P12 per liter for gasoline, P15 to P18 per liter for diesel, and P12 to P22 for kerosene.
These increases would result in the pump prices ranging from P82.60 to P102.5 for the cheapest gasoline, P107 to P134 for diesel, and P114.99 to P144.20 for diesel plus.