Philippines Senate Proposes Strategic Petroleum Reserve Act

SENATOR Lorna Regina B. Legarda has filed a bill authorizing the government to perform measures preventing energy market abuse by allowing the Department of Energy (DoE) to examine fuel inventories and prescribe temporary pricing during fuel emergencies. “Monitoring is different from regulating. In normal times, the DoE must know the true state of supply, costs, and prices. Only when a crisis arrives may it exercise clear, limited, and temporary powers necessary to protect the public,” Ms. Legarda said in a press statement on Wednesday. She pointed to the limited access of the public and the government to the information of fuel costs as among the struggles of the country during the oil shocks amid the war in the Middle East which started early 2026. “During the hearings, we saw how quickly prices could rise, while the government and the public had limited information on the actual cost of fuel already in the country, existing inventories, industry margins, and the basis for each adjustment. Families felt the increase immediately, but many basic questions could not be answered with the same speed,” she said. Under Senate Bill No. 2435, or the Philippine Fuel Security and Strategic Petroleum Reserve Act, Ms. Legarda also proposed to set up the Philippine Fuel Security Program, under the DoE, which aims to create a Strategic Petroleum Reserve that will serve as the country’s buffer in times of oil shocks. The petroleum reserve will remain under the control of the National Government at all times and will serve as a repository for priority fuel products such as diesel, gasoline, aviation fuel, fuel oil, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas which may be used for public services. “The Strategic Petroleum Reserve shall be maintained primarily for severe fuel supply disruptions, declared fuel emergencies, national emergencies, calamities, extraordinary price shocks, hoarding, cartelization, or other events affecting national fuel security,” the measure read. The DoE will serve as the lead and regulatory agency for the fuel programs under the proposal, while the Philippine National Oil Co. will serve as fuel security agent of the country authorized to procure, release fuel stocks, and enter government-to-government arrangements. Fuel prices in the Philippines have spiked due to tensions in the Middle East following the US-Israel and Iran conflict on Feb. 28. In March, Senator Francis Joseph “Chiz” G. Escudero also filed a similar bill seeking to establish a national oil reserve which can store supply for 90 to 180 days, with a proposed funding of P60 billion for the oil depot construction. In his proposal, the DoE is also tapped to be in charge of the reserve’s fuel inventory, construction, maintenance, and operations. — Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel