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As the leader of one of the most powerful nations, US President Donald Trump continues to rant against Iran for its refusal to come to a compromise on ceasefire agreement. Mr.Trump’s deadline for Iran to agree to a truce ends today (Manila time). We could only pray for peace to put an immediate end to the Middle East (ME) conflict.

We could only look to our country’s leadership headed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) to look for immediate relief and solutions to mitigate the impact of the ME conflict on the wellbeing of over 110 million Filipinos.

While the ME conflict took a turn for the worse and expanded, it was only last March 24 when PBBM issued Executive Order 110 which, among other things, declared a state of national energy emergency in the Philippines. Reeling from the resulting historic high prices of refined petroleum products, PBBM created a Cabinet cluster specifically to help him address the problems spawned by the ME conflict. He dubbed it as the UPLIFT committee, or Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food and Transport.

After Iran announced it will allow “non-hostile” countries to pass unharmed through the Strait of Hormuz, PBBM mobilized two members of the UPLIFT committee, namely, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Theresa Lazaro and Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin to reach out to concerned Iranian government officials.

Upon the imprimatur of PBBM as the country’s chief foreign policy architect, Lazaro and Garin last week sat down with the Ambassador of Iran to the Philippines Yousef Esmaeilzadeh. Without giving any details, the DFA secretary posted in her official X account that the two sides talked about “key avenues for cooperation” and that Iran indicated readiness to cooperate with the Philippines.

The DFA chief though was sketchy with her diplomatese.

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro provided some details on the meeting of Lazaro and Garin with the Iranian Ambassador based on the report of the two Cabinet members to PBBM. “Amb. Esmaeilzadeh noted that they have been awaiting our outreach and reaffirmed their strong willingness to assist the Philippines with our specific requests,” Castro disclosed.

According to a tersely worded press statement, the DFA said Secretary Lazaro had “a very productive phone conversation” with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi. ?“During the call, the Iranian foreign minister assured the secretary that Iran will allow the safe, unhindered and expeditious passage through the Strait of Hormuz of Philippine-flagged vessels, energy sources and all Filipino seafarers,” the DFA announced.

“?Secretary Lazaro noted that this positive development is vital for the Philippines, as it will not only ensure the safety of Filipino seafarers operating in the area but will also help ensure energy security for the country,” the DFA explained.

“Given that the Philippines imports the majority of its energy requirements from the Middle East, these assurances from Iran will greatly facilitate the steady delivery of critical oil and fertilizer supplies to the Philippines,” the DFA stressed.

For her part, the DOE secretary reassured the public yesterday that our country has enough fuel supply for about 50 days, or until the latter half of May based on data as of April 3.

Garin clarified the 50-day supply does not mean our country’s stocks of refined petroleum products will run out after May but it indicates the time frame within which replenishment must be made. Typically, Garin explained, it takes seven to 10 days to place orders, with supply deliveries arriving within a week mostly from nearby countries Japan and China.

Before we expect too much from this feel-good news, Castro hastily clarified it will not immediately bring down pump prices of gasoline and diesel which have been rising every week and lately reaching as much as P150 per liter.

Meanwhile, renewed calls for joint oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) areas with China are gaining ground. The latest to add his voice is Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III who endorsed the reactivation of this oil exploration initiative.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum last month, Sotto first pitched this as he expressed his strong belief that the Philippines is endowed with untapped oil deposits somewhere, given the fact that neighboring countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have rich oil deposits. 

Sotto revealed he had pitched the initiative to former president Rodrigo Duterte. He described Mr. Duterte as “receptive to the idea” when he broached this to him way back in 2018. Despite the ex-president’s China-friendly foreign policy stand, Sotto rued, “nothing came out of it.” Asked if he is hopeful the venture will finally push through under PBBM, Sotto quipped: “I hope so…I might ask for a meeting after I discuss it with our group again.”

The Senate chief was obviously referring to like-minded colleagues at the Senate for after all, they have a say on executive agreements and international treaties. For one, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian echoed being in favor of joint exploration but under “strict conditions.” This includes maintaining the WPS sovereign rights and our country’s exclusive economic zone around the disputed overlapping maritime claims in South China Sea.

A supposedly independent think tank, Stratbase Institute, rejected any move to pursue joint energy exploration between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea, saying “China has repeatedly demonstrated that it is neither a reliable partner nor a responsible actor.”

Through Chinese embassy deputy spokesman Wei Guo, Beijing welcomed PBBM’s public pronouncement that the Philippines is open to resuming discussions with China on a joint oil and gas project. 

Taking note of the Stratbase Institute’s public rejection of this proposal, Wei retorted: “So here come the questions: who is mandated to make foreign policies in the Philippines? Who benefits from the rejection of joint energy exploration? Who bears the brunt of soaring fuel prices? Keep up the good job, Stratbase!”

Thankfully, the Philippine government closely hews to the 1987 Constitution that declared our independent foreign policy: a friend to all, an enemy to none.