Retired national police chief and senatorial candidate Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar urged the national government to consider declaring a state of economic emergency, saying such move would expedite the distribution of assistance to the affected sectors amid the continuous rise of petroleum products and the uncertainty as to when the oil prices would stabilize.

Eleazar said the state of economic emergency would also empower the local government units (LGUs) to complement the fuel subsidy from the national government and would even implement appropriate responses to mitigate the impacts of the oil price hikes for their respective constituents.

“A state of economic emergency is already a necessity if another big-time oil price hike happens next week, and especially if there is still no assurance that oil price will stabilize in the coming months,” said Eleazar.

“To shield the people from the immediate impacts of expected increases in basic goods and services should be a top priority especially that we are still recovering from the adverse effects of the pandemic,” he added.

The Philippine government has allotted P2.5 billion for the fuel subsidy for drivers of mass transport vehicles and operators and P500 million for farmers and fishers to help them amid the impact of the price hikes on their livelihood.

The bureaucratic process, however, has been delaying the distribution of the fuel subsidies.

Although the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) has already proposed to double the fuel subsidy to the transport and agriculture sectors that would be given in two tranches, this month and in April, Eleazar doubts that it is enough to cover the impacts of the oil price hikes especially that even experts could not determine as to when the price of fuel products would stabilize.

He explained that a state of economic emergency would not only ensure quick release of funds but also ensure sustainability of assistance since LGUs would be given the authority to use their own funds, particularly the calamity funds, to complement the subsidy coming from the national government.

It was Albay 2nd Dsitrict Rep. Joey Salceda earlier suggested the declaration of the state of economic emergency as this would hasten the distribution of aid for the sectors affected by the rise in prices of fuel products. He said the local government units could use their calamity funds to provide relief to tricycle drivers, farmers and fisherfolk.

If the state of economic emergency is approved, Eleazar said the LGUs should balance the use of calamity funds to ensure that there will still be enough left in case natural calamities that would it their respective areas for the rest of the year.