Read the Edited Highlights of Marcos’s Interview With Bloomberg

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Marcos: I think so, yes. We should be able to do that.

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Bloomberg: How about 8% growth? In our last conversation, you mentioned 8% was possible.

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Marcos: We were hoping to get to 7% by this time, and I think we could have managed it except for these shocks that are coming in. One shock we had to deal with was climate change. [In 2024] we had to import most of our food, and that really held us back. The public spending, instead of going into capital spending, went to importations. 

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Bloomberg: So 8% is no longer viable? 

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Marcos: That’ll be a tough number to get to.

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Bloomberg: The added challenge comes from the Iran war — high energy costs. In terms of your fuel supply, where are you? Some suggest you have a month’s worth left. 

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Marcos: I think we’re doing better than a month in terms of fuel supply — maybe 45 days more or less, depends on diesel or gasoline. 

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Bloomberg: You’re in conversation with the likes of China and Russia to get added supply. Where are you with that?

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Marcos: We’re quite encouraged because the contracts that we already had are now being honored. We’ve gotten that commitment from our partners around the world.

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Bloomberg: Which partners are they?

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Marcos: We import fertilizer from Indonesia and China; refined fuel comes from Japan and South Korea; and we are importing oil from Malaysia. 

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Bloomberg: Are you getting a commitment from China or Russia for added fuel supply? 

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Marcos: We’re still working on that. China we always had a trading relationship with and that’s ongoing, and we are trying to increase that supply. Russia is not a traditional supplier of crude oil to the Philippines or any energy energy supply, but we are exploring that as well. Basically, we are trying anything, everything to secure supply because that’s the one thing that we can do about. The pricing is going to be a much more difficult challenge because everyone is a price taker when it comes to oil.

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Bloomberg: Jet fuel is the other component. Reports suggest a lack of jet fuel might ground Philippine airlines flights.

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Marcos: That’s a tough one because it is a highly refined petroleum product. So with scarcity,  limitations now on crude supply, the refining of jet fuel takes a longer time. We’ll have to depend on what is readily available. When our airlines fly out, several countries have already told our airlines they cannot fuel their aircraft, so they have to carry fuel there and back. Long-haul is going to be a much more serious problem. 

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Bloomberg: So inevitably, planes will have to be grounded? 

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Marcos: We’re hoping not, but it’s a distinct possibility.

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Bloomberg: Filipinos are grappling with high fuel costs. Are you concerned they could take to the streets if prices remain high? 

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Marcos: That’s a given. That’s exactly what is happening. That’s why the government is now providing subsidies, the first sector we tried to attend to is the transport sector—that;s because these are the workers who will be most affected. So the fuel subsidies and straight-out cash subsidies to operators and drivers across ships, buses, public transport, and delivery systems, all of these people have to be subsidized now so the actual end consumer feels the rise in fuel prices as little as possible. In the next two days, we’re going to be spending about 2.5 billion pesos in fuel subsidies. We have planned four of those rounds of subsidies. We’re trying to cushion the impact as much as possible for the riding public and middle class.

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We’re also coming up to Holy Week, the biggest holiday after Christmas where people travel. We’ve gotten commitments from ferries that they will not raise their fares, we’re doing the same thing with buses that they will not raise their fares and they do not limit or cut down the trips they will be taking. We’re doing everything we can so the riding public, the general public, the people who are working, the middle class, they are the ones we are most concerned about, so it does not become a drag to their livelihoods.