You’ve felt it. The jeepney fare that quietly went up. The galunggong at the palengke that suddenly costs ₱80 more per kilo. The electricity bill that arrived thicker than last month’s. None of it feels connected at first but pull the thread and you’ll find the same culprit behind all of it.
The Philippines has been dealing with consecutive weeks of diesel and kerosene price hikes as of March 2026, with most of those weeks including gasoline increases too. Because the country imports most of its petroleum needs, every global price spike lands here fast passed directly to consumers under Republic Act No. 8479, or the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998, with very little cushion in between.
10 ways how rising oil prices ripple through everyday Filipino life
- Higher Fares for Commuters
- Soaring Food Prices at the Palengke
- Crushing Blow to Farmers
- Hardship for Fisherfolk
- Higher Electricity Bills
- Peso Depreciation and Imported Inflation
- Inflation Eroding Purchasing Power
- Threat to OFW Remittances
- Slowing Business Activity and Job Losses
- Slower Government Spending and Services
1. Higher Fares for Commuters
This one hits first and hits fast. Jeepneys, buses, tricycles, and ride-hailing apps all run on diesel or gasoline. When pump prices climb, operators spend more to stay on the road and that cost gets passed to you at the door.
With diesel crossing ₱100 per liter, jeepney drivers reportedly spend over ₱3,000 a day on fuel alone, according to PISTON, leaving many with only ₱200 to ₱300 in daily take-home pay after boundary and fuel costs. Tricycle drivers and jeepney operators across Metro Manila have started downing their vehicles just to survive, saying a full day on the road barely covers the cost of a full tank. For minimum-wage workers commuting every day, fare hikes are a direct cut to take-home pay, every single week.
2. Soaring Food Prices at the Palengke
Before your galunggong reaches the tindahan, it’s already traveled on a diesel-powered truck. When fuel costs rise, so does the price of moving food from farm or sea to the market stall and vendors have no choice but to pass it on.
At the Marikina Public Market, fish vendor Romana Losugero reported that galunggong jumped from ₱260–₱280 per kilo to ₱340 overnight, an ₱80 increase in a single day at that market. Separately, fish vendors in Pangasinan markets also reported price increases of up to ₱20 per kilo, with suppliers citing the sharp rise in gasoline as the direct cause. Pork retailers have followed suit. The Department of Agriculture has also flagged rice as a likely next domino. For families spending 40 to 60% of their income on food, these aren’t small changes.
3. Crushing Blow to Farmers
Talk to a rice farmer in Laguna during dry season and they’ll tell you: farming runs on diesel. Irrigation pumps, tractors, threshers, the truck that brings the harvest to market, all of it needs fuel.
When prices spike, production costs rise from multiple directions at once. Fuel for irrigation costs more. Fertilizers cost more too, since they’re petroleum-derived. And when traders sense rising costs, they often push the burden further down to the farmers themselves. For smallholders already operating on thin margins, that combination is brutal. Some are quietly asking whether planting is still worth it.
4. Hardship for Fisherfolk
For fishermen in coastal communities, every trip out to sea is a fuel calculation. When diesel prices spike, some cut trips short. Others don’t go out at all. And when boats stay docked, families go without income and the rest of the country ends up paying more for fish.
Fisherfolk have been vocal about this, calling for an immediate suspension of fuel excise taxes. The Department of Agriculture has been eyeing ₱10 billion from the Presidential Assistance for Farmers and Fisherfolk (PAFF) program to help. But the gap between a government announcement and actual fuel relief reaching a fisherman in Navotas or Batangas can be a long one.
5. Higher Electricity Bills
Oil and electricity might seem like separate problems but the connection runs deeper than most people realize. The Philippines’ power mix relies heavily on coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), both of which move with global commodity prices.
In March 2026,Meralco raised electricity rates by ₱0.6427 per kilowatt-hour due to higher transmission and ancillary service charges. Separately, the Department of Energy has warned that the Middle East oil crisis could push rates up by a further 16% starting April 2026, though this remains a forecast, not a confirmed adjustment. For a household consuming 200 kWh a month, the March adjustment alone already translates to roughly ₱129 more on the bill. For families already watching every peso, what comes next could force real trade-offs.
6. Peso Depreciation and Imported Inflation
Oil price surges weaken the peso too. Because the Philippines imports almost all of its petroleum, a spike in oil prices widens the country’s import bill and puts sustained pressure on the currency.
MUFG Bank projected that every $10 per barrel increase in international oil prices widens the current account deficit by 0.5% of GDP. In early March 2026, the peso slid to a historic low of ₱59.735 to the dollar andhas since broken past the ₱60 mark for the first time in history.MUFG analysts warn it could reach ₱60 to ₱61 if crude stays above $100 per barrel. A weaker peso means everything imported costs more: medicines, electronics, raw materials. The fuel price you noticed at the gas station quietly shows up in places you’d never think to look.
7. Inflation Eroding the Purchasing Power of the Poor
Higher fares, pricier food, steeper electricity bills, a weaker peso together, they shrink what every peso can actually buy. And that shrinkage hits low-income households hardest, because they spend the most on exactly the categories that oil shocks affect.
Philippine inflation was already at 2.4% in February 2026.IBON Foundation has warned that the all-time low peso and surging global oil prices are a double whammy that could double inflation in the coming months, hitting millions of poor Filipino families the hardest. For workers in NCR earning the ₱695 daily minimum wage, the gap against IBON Foundation’s estimated family living wage of ₱1,221 for NCR as of January 2026 was already painful. Every decimal point of inflation makes it wider.
8. Threat to OFW Remittances
More than 2.4 million Filipinos work in the Middle East, the same region at the center of the current oil price shock. That puts OFW families in a difficult spot.
In 2025, remittances from the Middle East reached $6.5 billion, about 18% of total OFW inflows. BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. has warned that prolonged conflict in the region could reduce demand for Filipino workers. Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan has warned that remittances could decline by as much as 65% from the 2025 level in a worst-case scenario. For the family in Pampanga or Cebu waiting on that monthly transfer to cover rent and tuition, that projection has a very concrete meaning.
9. Slowing Business Activity and Job Losses
Households aren’t the only ones feeling squeezed. Businesses across logistics, food, retail, and services all face higher operating costs when fuel prices rise and not everyone can absorb them.
Some government departments have already shifted to four-day workweeks to manage fuel expenses. Small businesses in the informal economy, the sari-sari store owner, the small-batch food supplier, the delivery-dependent micro-enterprise are especially exposed. MUFG Research projected that sustained high oil prices could pull Philippine GDP growth down to 3.7% in 2026, while Capital Economics has since cut its own forecast further to 3.8%. Slower growth means fewer new jobs, tighter margins, and less room to weather the next shock
10. Slower Government Spending and Services
When the government’s own fuel and energy bills go up, the budget for everything else gets tighter. And when oil prices stay elevated, fuel subsidies become politically unavoidable, adding even more pressure to an already stretched fiscal position.
Every peso allocated to subsidies is a peso not going to public health, education, or infrastructure. BSP Governor Remolona has also warned that if oil stays above $100 per barrel, the central bank may need to halt rate cuts or raise interest rates. Higher borrowing costs make government spending on development more expensive right when people need it most.
It Doesn’t Stop at the Pump
Oil is an input into almost everything. When diesel prices rise, fertilizer gets more expensive. Shipping costs go up. Electricity rates follow. Transport fares climb. Food prices rise. Each feeds into the next, and the effects keep moving for months.
Other countries face the same dynamic. Broader research estimates suggest that a $10 per barrel oil price increase can reduce GDP by up to 1.5% for net oil-importing developing economies on average, a figure that reflects cross-country modeling rather than a Philippines-specific projection. For local context, MUFG’s Philippines-specific estimate is more conservative, at 0.2 percentage points of GDP per $10 per barrel increase. The Philippines, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are among the hardest hit outside the Gulf, given their heavy dependence on imported energy from the Middle East and limited fiscal space to absorb the shock.
Locally, the proposals on the table include suspending fuel excise taxes under the TRAIN Law during prolonged spikes, directing subsidies to farmers, fisherfolk, and transport drivers rather than blanket support, cracking down on profiteering, and investing in renewable energy to cut long-term dependence on imported oil. IBON Foundation executive director Sonny Africa has argued that wide-reaching subsidies for fuel-intensive sectors and the poorest households are unavoidable given the scale of the crisis. Emergency relief matters but lasting resilience will need structural change in how the country powers its transport, agriculture, and electricity systems.
For the estimated 28 million Filipinos living below or near the poverty line, every peso matters. And every liter of diesel that costs more means one less meal, one fewer school supply, one more sacrifice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does everyone seem to feel the impact of rising oil prices?
Because oil powers more than cars. It moves the trucks that carry food, runs the pumps that irrigate rice fields, feeds into electricity generation, and drives the cost of imported goods. When it gets expensive, everything connected to it follows.
How much have prices actually gone up because of the fuel hikes?
Fish prices have jumped by as much as ₱20 per kilo in markets across the country, with galunggong and other staples rising quickly as fuel costs push up logistics expenses. Pork prices are following. Rice is expected to be next. For families spending 40 to 60% of their income on food, those aren’t small changes.
Why did electricity rates go up — isn’t that separate from gas?
The two are more connected than most people think. The Philippines relies heavily on coal and LNG for power generation, and both track global commodity prices. Meralco raised rates by ₱0.6427 per kWh in March 2026 due to higher transmission charges, and the Department of Energy warned of a possible additional 16% increase come April tied to the oil crisis.
Are families with OFWs in the Middle East affected?
Significantly. Over 2.4 million Filipinos work in the region. If conflict slows economic activity there or damages energy infrastructure, demand for Filipino workers could fall. In a worst-case scenario, remittances could fall by as much as 65% from 2025 levels.
What can the government do to help ordinary Filipinos?
Options include suspending fuel excise taxes during sustained price spikes, directing subsidies to farmers, fisherfolk, and public transport drivers, cracking down on profiteering, and investing in renewable energy to cut long-term dependence on imported oil.
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