Finally after widely shared fake news reports of certain countries allegedly offering fuel to Davao City were debunked, we now have some verifiable good news.
A ship carrying 2.48 million barrels of imported crude oil arrived in the Philippines last week, just days after the country declared a national energy emergency on account of the Middle East conflict between Israel and the United States on the one hand and Iran on the other.
The Philippines is heavily dependent on imported fuel, the supply of which has thinned out globally due to the ongoing war that has left the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East, a vital oil trade route, to partially close down. The situation has since spiked oil prices, threatening to cripple transport and economic activities.
But what comes as rather surprising is that the oil source is Russia which isn’t really a traditional oil supplier to the Philippines.
After the US Treasury eased restrictions on Russian crude oil by allowing countries to purchase supplies that have been transported at sea until April 11, 2026, Petron Corp., the Philippines’ only oil refiner took advantage of it.
The US restriction is really quite a long story by itself, boiling down to economic sanctions against nations that transact with countries that it has blocked by freezing their assets or prohibiting deals with them. Russia is one of the countries blocked by the US.
But up until now, trade between the Philippines and Russia on products outside of the sanctions has been modest. In 2024, Philippine imports from Russia were estimated at around US$57.7 million, while Philippine exports to Russia for the same period were placed at around US$56.1 million.
Politically, relations between the two governments have been healthy, with continued political consultations active, as shown by the 13th round of talks by senior officials of both countries held in Manila in November 2024.
Historically, Russia owes the Philippines big time. Shortly after World War II, some 6,000 Russians whose families originally resettled in China after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution fled to escape persecution after the Chinese Communist forces advanced into their conclave in the late 1940s.
While many countries refused to accept the Russian refugees for fear of retaliation from the communists, Philippine President Elpidio Quirino took them in at a former US Navy on Tubabao Island in Albay. The refugee camp was established in 1949.
The Russians established a functioning town in Tubabao despite the tropical environment. Among the refugees at the time was Archbishop John of Shanghai, a spiritual leader who was later canonized as St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco. Within four years, the refugees gradually resettled in other countries, including the US, France and Australia.
The move is internationally recognized as a significant humanitarian effort by the Philippines.
Expressing gratitude to the Philippines, a bronze statue of Quirino being blessed by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco created by a Russian sculptor was installed in 2011 at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City. The Russian Embassy in the Philippines also installed a marker in Tubabao in 2012.
While some people may call it a strictly business deal, I view the current oil supply transaction between the two countries as an affirmation of both country’s historically reciprocal relations.