President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has promised to provide fuel subsidies in response to the anticipated rise in oil prices, in view of the heightened tensions in the Middle East.
Marcos said further escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran could disrupt oil supply and drive prices up. He continued, saying the government has always been able to roll out fuel subsidies, as they had during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have always given fuel subsidies … If you remember during the pandemic, lalong-lalo na ‘yung may mga nagpapasada para may hanapbuhay naman sila, binigyan natin ng fuel subsidies (especially those who were driving to earn a living, we gave them fuel subsidies),” the President stated.
“Now we will have to do the same for those who are severely affected—the stakeholders—by any instability in the price of oil,” he declared.
In a report by Reuters, oil prices have already spiked by over 4 percent on Tuesday, due to the Israel-Iran conflict.
Iran has partially suspended its oil production at the South Pars field since a fire broke out due to an airstrike on Saturday. Israel had also struck the Shahran oil depot in Iran.
