The Philippines Is the First Country to Declare a National Energy Emergency

The Situation on the Ground

Hundreds of transport workers in Manila went on strike on Thursday, March 26, protesting fuel costs that have more than doubled since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28. The two-day strike — involving jeepney drivers, motorcycle taxi riders, and car ride-hailing operators — is the most visible sign yet of how the Iran war's energy shock is landing on ordinary workers in Southeast Asia. (Source: BBC News, March 26, 2026.)

Jeepneys are Manila's signature mini-buses, known for cheap fares. For their drivers, fuel is the core operating cost. When diesel more than doubles, the math of the job collapses.

Drivers told the BBC directly what that collapse looks like. Guillermo Japole, 62, said he lined up for more than five hours for a government cash payout of 5,000 pesos ($83) but his name was not on the list. He described himself as having "no cash aid, no earnings, no food for the family" — and said his five school-age children's family was on the edge of being evicted from their rental home. (Source: BBC News, March 26, 2026.)

Ronnie Rillosa, 58, who has driven a jeepney for 30 years, told the BBC: "It feels like we are being choked. It's really tough. We don't know where can we get money to provide for our families. We don't need cash aid if the government will cut the prices of fuel, food, electricity, water." (Source: BBC News, March 26, 2026.)

The Declaration: First National Energy Emergency of the War

President Ferdinand Marcos signed a state of national energy emergency on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. The executive order stated that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East "posed an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply." The emergency will initially last for one year. The Philippines is the first country to make such a formal declaration in response to the Iran war, according to BBC's reporting. (Source: The Guardian, March 25, 2026; BBC News, March 26, 2026.)

The executive order authorizes the Department of Energy to act against hoarding and profiteering and to make advance payments to secure fuel contracts. The transportation department gained the ability to direct fuel subsidies and reduce or suspend toll charges and aviation fees. The government was also empowered to fast-track aid to individuals in "crisis situations." (Source: The Guardian, March 25, 2026.)

Separately, Marcos signed a law authorizing him to temporarily suspend or cut the excise tax on petroleum products when the average Dubai crude oil price reaches or exceeds $80 per barrel for a month. Dubai crude has been well above that threshold since the war began. (Source: BBC News, March 26, 2026.)

The main labor coalition Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) criticized the declaration, calling it an "admission" that the government had failed to address the oil crisis and accusing the administration of downplaying the situation by claiming "everything is normal." (Source: BBC News, March 26, 2026.)

The Numbers: 45 Days of Fuel, 98% Hormuz Dependency

The Philippines' fuel position is acute for a specific structural reason: the country relied on supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz for approximately 98% of its requirements before the war. That single figure explains why Manila is in crisis while more energy-diversified economies are experiencing rising prices but not supply emergencies. (Source: BBC News, March 26, 2026.)

As of March 20 — the most recent date with public figures — the government said the Philippines had approximately 45 days of fuel supply remaining. It is actively seeking to procure an additional 1 million barrels of oil to build its buffer. (Source: The Guardian, March 25, 2026.)

The archipelago nation of 116 million relies on coal for approximately 60% of its electricity generation. With the cost of liquefied natural gas (LNG) soaring — LNG is also a major Hormuz commodity — Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told reporters on Tuesday that the Philippines would "temporarily" lean even more heavily on coal. Garin said: "If we are successful in implementing this, at least we can decrease the electricity rate hikes because of the conflict in the Middle East." (Source: The Guardian, March 25, 2026.)

Indonesia has assured the Philippines it would place no limits on coal orders, according to Garin. The Philippines has the option of increasing coal purchases from Indonesia — its top coal supplier — as a near-term substitute for gas-fired generation.

The Sanctions Waiver Request: Asking to Buy Iranian Oil

In a development that illustrates the war's diplomatic complexity, the Philippines is seeking waivers from the US State Department to obtain oil from US-sanctioned countries — potentially including Iran and Venezuela — to ensure its fuel supply. Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez confirmed this to Reuters on Wednesday, March 25. Asked whether Washington had responded, Romualdez said the matter was "a work in progress." (Source: The Guardian, March 25, 2026, citing Reuters.)

This is a politically extraordinary request: the Philippines, a US treaty ally, is asking its patron to grant permission to buy oil from the country the US is actively bombing. The request reflects the bind that energy-dependent US allies find themselves in — caught between solidarity with Washington's war and the economic reality of fuel supplies running out.

Whether the US will grant such waivers is not publicly known. The Trump administration has separately indicated it would consider removing sanctions on some Iranian oil as a mechanism to lower global prices — a signal that some flexibility may be available — but no formal waivers have been publicly confirmed for any country. (Source: CFR, March 20, 2026, citing Fox Business/US Treasury Secretary Bessent.)

Russian Crude Arrives in Manila

As the strike began on Thursday, a ship carrying more than 700,000 barrels of Russian crude oil arrived in the Philippines — the first Russian oil shipment to the country in five years, according to Gulf News citing AFP. Press Secretary Claire Castro confirmed that the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel Sara Sky arrived earlier this week with the shipment, now anchored at Limay port in Bataan province. (Sources: BBC News, March 26, 2026; Gulf News/AFP, March 26, 2026; Manila Times, March 26, 2026.)

Russia has been selling crude at steep discounts to Asian buyers since Western sanctions were imposed following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Philippines, like India, has quietly continued purchasing Russian crude at below-market prices as part of its energy diversification. The arrival of this shipment is a direct response to Marcos's stated goal of finding new oil sources as the Hormuz route became effectively closed.

The optics are notable: on the same day Manila's transport workers went on strike over fuel costs caused by the Iran war, a Russian oil tanker sailed into the harbor as part of a workaround for the supply crisis the war created. Russia is the country that, according to Western intelligence, is also actively shipping drones to Iran to help sustain the same war.

The Human Stakes: 2.4 Million Filipinos in the Middle East

Beyond the immediate fuel crisis, the Philippines faces a significant evacuation risk. Approximately 2.4 million Filipinos live and work in the Middle East — a major source of remittances that is central to the Philippine economy. That figure includes approximately 31,000 in Israel and approximately 800 in Iran. The Department of Migrant Workers has been asked to prepare for possible rescue and evacuation operations. (Source: The Guardian, March 25, 2026.)

The Philippines has conducted overseas evacuation operations before — most recently Operation Kaksa in 2023, and Operation Kalis in Lebanon in 2024 — but those involved significantly smaller numbers. A full-scale evacuation of 2.4 million workers across multiple Middle Eastern countries simultaneously would be an operation of unprecedented scale for Manila.

Why This Matters

The Philippines story is a precise illustration of how the Iran war's energy shock is being experienced far from the battlefields. A 116-million-person country with 98% Hormuz dependence, 45 days of reserves, a formal national emergency declaration, transport workers on strike, and a government simultaneously seeking permission to buy oil from both Iran and Russia to survive — this is the energy supply crisis arriving as a lived reality, not an economic forecast.

The Philippines is also the first country to formally declare an energy emergency, but almost certainly not the last. Countries with similar Hormuz dependency profiles — Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia — face comparable structural vulnerability. If the war extends into summer, the emergency declaration in Manila may be the first of many.