00:00Good afternoon, Mr. President.
00:01Good afternoon.
00:02This is on the point of energy security and mutual support among member states.
00:06Did the Philippines get new supply commitments from our ASEAN neighbors?
00:10Did we get new?
00:12Supply commitments.
00:13And if so, how firm and dependable are these commitments,
00:17given that our neighbors are facing the same crisis,
00:19and they will naturally prioritize their own interests?
00:22Well, actually, we did not talk about supply.
00:27Not theory.
00:28You know why?
00:29Because we already have been discussing this for the past, what, few months, three months.
00:35And the arrangements for supply, for fuel supply, have already been made
00:40with not only member states, but the states outside of ASEAN.
00:45And so this is not something that needed to be put together any longer
00:51because our supply lines were immediately established.
00:57I mean, the war started in February 28th.
01:01February, by the next day, this government, at least, was already in contact with all our suppliers.
01:09And beyond that, we were also looking for other suppliers, what we can refer to as non-traditional suppliers,
01:17all the way out to Africa to Latin America, who, before, we did not really get a supply from.
01:25So, no, it wasn't discussed because we have already made...
01:29They are essentially bilateral arrangements.
01:32The one thing that we talked about that concerned fuel supply was a fuel reserve.
01:38That to put together a fuel reserve is something like the emergency rice reserve.
01:45That came up, too, because we talked about food.
01:48So, to increase the rice, the rice, emergency rice reserve that we share with one another when there is a
01:56crisis,
01:58and enlarge that, but also the oil products, or different oil products, reserve.
02:05Because the situation right now is very different from each country.
02:11Some countries have a surplus of a certain kind of fuel.
02:15Other people have a shortage, and we're trying to balance that out.
02:19But beyond that is the reserve, so that we have something in reserve.
02:27And when something like this happens, a war happens, a trade route like the Strait of Hormuz is closed,
02:35and with all the attendant effects, we have somewhere to immediately run to for emergency supply.
02:42That's more what we discussed, rather than arrangements to...
02:47It's left to individual countries to make their own arrangements on how to gain supply,
02:52because we are all in a different situation.
02:55Like, for example, in the Philippines, the number one important fuel is diesel.
03:03But other countries, what they are struggling with is jet fuel.
03:07With other countries, it's gasoline.
03:09With other countries, it's gas.
03:10So, we are trying to even out those differences between countries.
03:18So, we are making our own arrangements, but at the same time, we are coming together and
03:26promoting and developing, rather, developing the idea that we will have a fuel reserve.
03:33All the kinds of fuels, all the different kinds of fuels.
03:35Crude oil, all the way to jet fuel, all the way to the most refined fuel.
03:39Crude oil, and to have so that when such a thing happens again, if it ever, hopefully it will
03:46never happen again, but you never know, and should such a thing happen again, then there
03:51is a reserve, there is a reserve that we can all avail of.
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