The next administration will bear the brunt of increasing oil prices brought by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said Sunday.
Duterte, in his speech in Clark, Pampanga, warned his successor to brace up for the possibility that escalating tensions between the two countries could cause skyrocketing oil prices.
“Talagang magdaan tayo ng hirap kaya nagpasalamat ako sa Diyos na magtapos na ako. Bilisan na lang niya ang mga araw kasi kawawa talaga itong susunod tingnan ninyo. Hindi na hihinto ‘yan. (We are really going suffering to suffer that’s why I am thankful to God that my term is about to end. I just want him to speed up the days because the person who comes next would be pitiful. It won’t stop) Every day, the prices will increase and increase and increase until we can have a stable situation in the whole, lahat ng countries, dito sa Pilipinas, maka-recover (all the countries and the Philippines will recover),” he said in his speech in Clark, Pampanga,
Duterte said the Russia-Ukraine war risks becoming one of “attrition” in which each side seeks to wear down the other.
“Iyong giyera ngayon (The war now), it will not end. It’s an attrition. Iyong patagalan na (Prolonging the) shooting each other there,” he added.
He raised concerns that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine would escalate to nuclear war.
“‘Pag nuclear na, wala na tayong pag-usapan, wala na tayong i-import pati… Bakit man kayo? Tapos na man lahat (When it escalates into a nuclear war, we won’t have anything to talk about. Everything is over),” he said.
Duterte also appealed to transport groups holding protests over fuel price hikes to thoroughly understand the factors driving up oil prices.
“Every time that you complain and go into a demonstration, just make sure that you realize and understand the importance of oil and how it would affect all nations,” he said.
Duterte earlier said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine deserves “condemnation”, describing the ongoing armed conflict as “so brutal”.
Malacañang said the Philippines joins the rest of the world in praying for an “early and peaceful” resolution to the conflict between the two countries.
Source: Philippines News Agency
