Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan stated that approximately P11 billion is required to fund fuel subsidies in Metro Manila.

During the Senate Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (PROTECT) Committee hearing regarding the ongoing oil crisis, Balisacan clarified that this figure is an initial estimate and that further discussions with relevant agencies are necessary.

He noted that nationwide requirements could be two to three times higher than the current estimate for Metro Manila.

The Secretary emphasized the importance of containing the impact within the transport sector to prevent broader economic consequences.

“The 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and the continuing 2025 GAA could help us, could cover us for the next three months for that. Again, if it is focused, well-targeted, but if we try to cover now the second round effects then it becomes much much harder and the resources required become much much more, the fiscal resources could be much much more. So hopefully we can contain the problem at the transport side so we can prevent the second round effects,” Balisacan said.

“Because the second round effects that can come in and can make the economy much harder to navigate is when those will now lead to higher prices for everything, into higher demand for wages,” he added.

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Risa Hontiveros urged DepDev to fast-track the finalization of subsidy estimates.

Meanwhile, Department of Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said that reducing diesel prices to P100 per liter within six months would already be an optimistic scenario given global market volatility.

“The behavior of President Trump and the rest of the parties involved, it’s becoming unpredictable talaga. Because when he announced the ceasefire, market reacted, it went down right away, P20 off kaagad tayo. But then this morning, there was another tweet, and umakyat na naman. We were expecting it to be steady na. It went up again by 8%, I think,” Garin said.

During the hearing, Senator Bam Aquino raised concerns about the possibility of prices returning to previous lower levels.

“Yung pagbalik sa sisenta imposible na yan? In the next year probably?” asked Senator Bam Aquino.

“We don’t know but it will be slower than the increase,” Garin responded.

Aquino then called on the government to reassess its targets based on current conditions.

“A lot of targets need to be reworked,” said Aquino.

Department of Transportation Undersecretary Mark Steven Pastor has indicated that the current P1 billion allocation is insufficient. Consequently, a request for an additional P5 billion has been submitted to the Department of Budget and Management.

Undersecretary Pastor noted that even with these additional funds, the coverage would likely only last for approximately three months.

“Mabilis pong maubos yung pondo. We ran the numbers po, if we are to include all modes of transport dito sa P1 billion pesos po namin, it will only last for less than two days. So yung prudent approach po, Mr. Chair, Madam Senator, is that we identified the high density volume routes that will serve as the main arteries po to transport our commuters,” Pastor explained.

Meanwhile, Balisacan proposed increasing monthly aid for beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) by P1,500.

“For the the next three months, covering three million households that will be about 13 and a half billion. But if you also include what I referred to earlier as vulnerable poor, those who are just above the poverty line, then that would add another four million households and it could run to about 41, roughly 42 billion for the next 3 months. That’s quite a lot,” Balisacan stated.

-Paraluman News