President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a "national energy emergency" on March 24, citing an "imminent danger of a critically low fuel supply" as the Strait of Hormuz closure cut off the Philippines' oil imports. [1] The country imports 98 percent of its oil from the Persian Gulf. When Hormuz closes, the Philippines has nowhere else to buy. [2]

Marcos established an emergency committee to manage fuel allocation and announced plans to increase coal-fired power generation — a reversal of the country's stated climate commitments. The energy emergency grants the government authority to ration fuel, cap prices and redirect supplies to essential services.

The declaration made the Philippines the first country to formally declare an energy emergency over the Iran war. It will not be the last. Thailand has negotiated safe passage for its tankers through Hormuz, but most Southeast Asian nations have no such arrangement. [3]

The pivot to coal is the most consequential element of the emergency order. The Philippines has 15 coal-fired power plants providing roughly 40 percent of national electricity. Ramping them up requires imported coal — which also travels through the Gulf. The emergency solves one supply problem by creating another.

Marcos framed the declaration as a defensive measure. "We are not at war," he said. "But the war is at our doorstep." [4] The Philippines is one of three ceasefire mediators — alongside Egypt and Turkey. It is trying to broker peace while its economy bleeds from the absence of it.

-- DARA OSEI, London