PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Tuesday, March 24, 2026, that the government is exploring the possibility of securing fuel supply from Russia in order to increase its buffer stock.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Marcos said China has always been a trading partner of the Philippines and that the government is still working on getting its commitment as the country is trying to increase fuel supply.
“I think it's certainly going to happen. I don't think that's something that we can, that is like an option. It's happening now,” he said.
“There's going to be a very, very serious restructuring. I remember I was watching Prime Minister Wong from Singapore and he was saying there will be, we will have to withdraw, redraw, all of our, even our legal relationships in terms of international law, in terms of all of these things,” he added.
Marcos said Russia is not a traditional supplier of crude oil to the Philippines or any energy supply, but the government is exploring the possibility.
“Basically, we are trying anything, everything to secure supply because that’s the one thing that we can do about. The pricing is going to be a much more difficult challenge because everyone is a price taker when it comes to oil,” he said.
Marcos said the Philippines has been sourcing fertilizer from Indonesia and China; refined fuel from Japan and South Korea; and oil from Malaysia.
The energy department said that as of March 20, 2026, the country’s fuel supply can last up to 45 days.
It said the government has earmarked P20 billion for the procurement of two million barrels of diesel for the additional 10 days on the existing fuel supply. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)