00:01The Philippines is nowhere near the situation during the height of the Ukraine-Russia conflict
00:05when unleaded gasoline soared to around 80 pesos a liter.
00:09This is the assurance from Department of Energy Secretary Sharon Garin.
00:13She said while it is still too early to put a clear figure on price increases in the coming weeks,
00:17the department also cannot yet say when a gradual staggered adjustment is put in place.
00:22Secretary Garin also stressed that any effect on electricity prices would be minimal.
00:26The role of product consumption is for transport.
00:32Power generation is 3%.
00:35So that's why I was saying na hindi siya ganun ang impact niya on electricity.
00:43Rather, it has the impact yung pamasahin natin, shipping.
00:50On other industries, actually, because shipping vegetables from one island to Luzon may impact yung kasi that's transport.
01:01The DOE continues to encourage greater use of hybrid, plug-in, and battery electric vehicles
01:06as part of efforts to reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels.
01:10Motorists are also being reminded to keep their vehicles properly serviced,
01:14to use fuel more efficiently, particularly in the weeks ahead.
01:18The public is also being urged to make use of public transport when and where possible,
01:22so that day-to-day travel costs are not heavily burdensome.
01:26Meanwhile, the Energy Secretary acknowledged that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz
01:30could still push up local prices, even if the Philippines does not source oil directly from Iran.
01:35So they refine it there, they sell it to us, but they buy it from the Middle East.
01:42That is the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
01:49If they cannot deliver from there, they cannot deliver from the refineries of Japan, Korea, or China,
01:56then they might not be able to sell it to us because they have nothing, no crude oil to refine.
02:03The DOE added that 98% of the country's crude oil imports come from other Middle Eastern suppliers,
02:09such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar,
02:15while the remaining 2% comes from ASEAN countries, including Brunei and Malaysia.
02:20As for refined oil and petroleum products, 97% generally comes from Asia,
02:26including China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia,
02:30while 3% comes from the United States and Australia.
02:34Secretary Garin expressed relief over the Philippines having ample petroleum supply,
02:39enough to last for nearly two months.
02:41But even with a surplus, she said price increases may still be hard to avoid,
02:45which is why the government is considering the earlier proposal for more gradual adjustments
02:49rather than a single and steep hike week by week.
02:52It will be, all will be staggered.
02:55Kahit 2 pesos lang yan, we want, we're asking them to stagger it
03:00so that the impact is not as, ano, at least mapakonti-konti lang siya.
03:06Denise Osorio for the National Television Network for a new and better Philippines.
Comments