PALACE officials met with 22 leaders of nine business groups in Malacañang on April 6, 2026 to hammer out moves that will blunt the blow of petroleum price spikes on “people, prices and productivity.”
They later met with 25 executives from 14 petroleum companies for a “wide-ranging dialogue on supply, inventory and cost issues.”
“In the latter, we took a dipstick reading on our country’s fuel tank,” Acting Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said, which Energy Secretary Sharon Garin latter announced was good for 50 days.
“And we are hopeful that oil diplomacy should not only keep our stocks replenished, but build them up,” he added.
In both meetings, Recto assured business leaders “of an open line of communication not only with Malacañang but with all government agencies.”
“That is why since Day One of this conflict, the President’s instruction was to reach out to business, civic leaders, local government executives and get their views, and many, in fact, have been inputted in our response,” Recto said.
As rising fuel costs jack up the prices of goods being transported, business leaders urged logistics bottlenecks cleared up and trade facilitation sped up.
On port congestion, Recto referred their proposal to open container yards outside Metro Manila to the Bureau of Customs “for immediate action.”
Another proposal, which is “to revisit the duration of the truck ban hours,” has been sent to the Metro Manila Development Authority for "urgent review and action."
This after it was raised during the meeting that “diesel accounts for approximately 70 percent movement costs and one container van carries the products made by hundreds of workers and needed by thousands of consumers.”
“Delay is cost passed on to the consumers,” one participant said.
Participants also called for more efficient online transactions of documents as an energy saving measure.
Recto said action on their appeal for lower fees charged by local governments “will be fast tracked.”
“With or without this conflict, we should be removing friction costs across the supply chain. Kasama na dyan yung mga hindi kinakailangang checkpoint lalo na sa mga biyahero ng mga pagkaing mabilis mabulok,” Recto said.
Recto asked for the private sector’s support by practicing energy saving, implementing flexible work arrangements, and preventing unfair pricing practices.
“This is a time for partnership of all, and not profiteering of the few,” he said.
He assured them that assistance that will help the most vulnerable, whether individuals or struggling small companies, will be extended and sustained in a targeted manner.
All their proposals have been referred as "Office of the President directives" to agencies such as the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine Export Zones Authority.
Other Cabinet members who joined Recto in the meetings were Sharon Garin of the Department of energy, Arsenio Balisacan of Department of Economy, Planning, and Development, and Dave Gomez of the Presidential Communications Office.
Business groups present were the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Management Association of the Philippines, the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, and Ease of Doing Business Foundation. (PR)