00:00Since the U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran, soaring fuel prices have shaken economies
00:05globally, and one of the most vulnerable countries is the Philippines. On March 24, Filipino
00:10President Ferdinand Marcos declared a national energy emergency, citing the war in Iran as
00:14an immediate threat to energy supplies. The Philippines imports almost all of its crude
00:19oil, mostly from the Middle East. Now that Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of
00:23Formos, Filipino reserves would last only about 45 days. The government has also ordered
00:42state agencies to cut energy consumption and shifted non-essential government workers to
00:46a four-day workweek. It's also increased the output of coal power plants. Rising transportation
00:51and energy costs are hitting the country's most vulnerable people, and officials fear inflation
00:55could reach levels not seen in years. The situation shows how quickly a war in the Middle East can lead
01:00to domestic crisis in import-dependent countries. We've been seeing signals for the past few years
01:06in this decade, for example, there are recurring signals that unfortunately were not enough to wake
01:13us up that it's very unsustainable to rely on imported goods, to be beholden to energy markets globally.
01:24AFP reports that a ship carrying over 700,000 barrels of Russian crude oil has arrived in the
01:29Philippines. That's enough for about a day and a half, according to recent data. President Marcos says he is
01:34confident he can fill in the gaps with other sources that aren't affected by the war. But the question
01:39remains, is this a wake-up call to diversify providers in the long term, or is it merely a stopgap,
01:45in the hopes that the war in Iran will end soon and prices will return to earlier levels?
01:50Tumindig ang gobyerno ng Pilipinas sa pagpapatigil ng gerang agresyon ng Estados Unidos laban sa Iran
01:58kasi yung impact ng oil disruption, apektado tayo. Hindi nga tayo tinatamaan ang bomba, pero tinatamaan tayo ng
02:07napakatinding kahirapan, kagutuman sa pagtas ng presyo ng produktong petrolyo.
02:12Japan, South Korea, China, India and Southeast Asian countries will be watching the Philippines.
02:18All have some degree of exposure.
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