Manila: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director for the Philippines Andrew Jeffries commended the Marcos administration's swift action and whole-of-government approach in alleviating the effects of the conflict in the Middle East. "I think the very early action and taking this very seriously was very commendable. It's a challenging situation, this is an external shock, it's not caused by any internal forces and [the] tools the government can use to address this shock, they utilized these as widely as they can," Jeffries said in an interview on PTV's 'Rise and Shine. Pilipinas" on Tuesday.
According to Philippines News Agency, the ADB cited the Philippines as one of the most active countries in the Asia-Pacific in responding to the surge in global fuel prices. The multilateral development bank noted that the Philippines implemented seven of eight major policy responses identified by the ADB across Asia-Pacific economies. These categories include fuel subsidies, targeted assistance, staggered oil price hikes, demand reduction, supply-side actions, and energy diversification measures.
Jeffries highlighted that while the Middle East conflict, which started on February 28, affected several nations, the Philippines was among those that declared a national emergency. The country was the first to act through Executive Order (EO) No. 110, or the national energy emergency declaration, on March 24. He praised the government's decision to suspend excise taxes on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas, providing relief to vulnerable households, while maintaining excise taxes on other fuels to ensure financial stability.
He also applauded the Department of Energy's efforts to diversify fuel sources and coordinate with fuel companies to implement fuel price hikes on a staggered basis. "They've really done a wide array of activities just to address this external shock," he added.
Under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s directive, the government introduced several measures to address rising fuel costs, including targeted subsidies, assistance to transport workers, support for vulnerable households, price monitoring, fuel supply safeguards, and accelerated renewable energy initiatives. The response was executed under a strategic whole-of-government framework anchored on the United Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) established under EO 110.
Jeffries expressed confidence in the government's prudent handling of the situation. "The subsidies in place are targeted and they're to the most vulnerable people affected by this crisis," he stated. He also commended the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) efforts to manage the increase in food prices and overall inflation. "Again, this is an externally created shock and the government's doing what it can, including a recent BSP rate increase, a modest one, to try to stay ahead a little bit of the inflation," he said.
