Asian nations, including the Philippines, are expected to pivot toward alternative energy sources and recalibrate their supply strategies as persistent conflicts in the Middle East and logistical bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz ripple across global oil markets, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Monday.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion with Japanese media in Malacañang, the President emphasized that the sharp escalation in global fuel prices has heavily exposed the vulnerabilities of oil-importing economies like the Philippines to unpredictable geopolitical shocks.
Redefining Asian Energy Supply Chains
President Marcos indicated that the structural shifts caused by the maritime crisis will likely leave a permanent mark on how the region procures its energy, pointing out that historical supply routes may no longer offer the same reliability.
“The opening of the Strait of Hormuz, I think, will be, of course, a very important development. However, despite that, I don’t think that we will go back to the old system where the majority of the petroleum products that are coming out of the Strait of Hormuz are going to Asia,”
The Chief Executive noted that the recurrence of these vulnerabilities will inevitably force a regional rethink on long-term sustainability and resource management.
“I think Asia is going to start looking for alternative measures in case this happens again,” Marcos said. “In the longer term, it just makes more important the move of the Philippines and all our countries away from fossil fuels towards more renewable energy sources.”
Strategic State Visit to Japan
Energy security and enhanced regional synergy are slated to dominate the agenda during the President’s upcoming state visit to Tokyo from May 26 to 29.
With the Philippines chairing ASEAN this year, Marcos intends to leverage the diplomatic mission to deliberate on how Japan can deepen its engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) via the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement (APSA). While domestic discussions on operationalizing the APSA framework are currently ongoing, a definitive implementation timeline has yet to be ironed out.
According to the President, recent ASEAN-level talks have gravitated toward safeguarding regional electricity grids and setting up coordinated petroleum stockpiles among member states to absorb market volatility.
“Japan has now taken a more active role. When it comes to the subject of energy, the energy supply, we are actually very grateful to Japan because Japan has been of great assistance to us in trying to find the different solutions for the supply of the different kinds of fuel,”
A Post-Crisis Normalization
Comparing the geopolitical crisis to a global health emergency, Marcos underscored that the ongoing disruptions will mandate structural overhauls in commercial networks and closer bilateral ties with regional neighbors.
“In many ways, the crisis in the Middle East is very much like a pandemic. It has and will continue to change just about everything,”
He added that the upcoming Tokyo talks will actively address these broader operational challenges:
“The way we move, the way that we work, the way that we do business, the way, of course, our supply chains once again become such a prominent part of the discussion. And those, I think, are the kinds of discussions that we will have when we go to Japan.”
A key highlight of the upcoming Tokyo visit will center on Tokyo’s newly introduced $10-billion financial pledge under the Partnership on Wide Energy and Resources Resilience (POWERR Asia) initiative, with Manila seeking to optimize its participation in the regional supply-chain framework.
Short-Term Recourse to Coal
Despite aggressive long-term renewable goals, the President candidly admitted that immediate domestic fuel deficits forced the government to temporarily walk back some green initiatives in favor of grid stability.
“However, with this happening in the Middle East well, at this point, you say anything that can provide us with power and energy, we will take it up again. So, we had to change some of the rules and go back to the old ways of producing power, coal being one of them. But, again, that’s in the short term,” he said.