The national government should exercise political will in pushing for proactive measures to protect the country from the adverse effects of the volatile security situation in the Middle East following the air war between Israel and Iran, a labor group said.

Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) president Ka Leody de Guzman said statements downplaying the effects of the Middle East tension does not actually help since Filipino motorists and consumers immediately felt the impact through a big-time oil price hike.

“We immediately felt the hefty oil price hike and sooner, we will be feeling its impacts on the price of basic goods and services because the majority of the Filipinos’ basic needs are imported from other countries,” said de Guzman.

He explained that transportation of imports—including raw, processed and finished goods— and even power generation in the country are imported through coal and oil.

With the increase in the oil price, de Guzman said there will be domino effects and these also include the increase in the peso-dollar exchange rate.

For de Guzman, one of the measures that must be immediately implemented is to abandon the concept that the government should not intervene in the price of oil products in the market. He was referring to the oil deregulation wherein the national government, through a legislation, maintained a hands-off policy in the price of the oil in the local market.

Another measure to cushion the impact of the Middle East tension, is to suspend or lift the value added tax (VAT) and excise tax on all petroleum products, according to the labor dealer.

“The crucial part is to fast-track the development of local agriculture to ensure food security and sufficient buffer stock of our basic needs,” said de Guzman.

And as the security situation in the Middle East remains fluid and could eventually lead to global recession, he said the national government should oversee the rent control implementation to prevent the repeat of what happened in 2020 when micro and small businessmen were severely affected by the Covid-19 lockdown.

“The national government should also set aside funds for wage subsidies for the micro, small and medium enterprises to help them sustain the salary of their employees once the security situation in the Middle East worsens,” said de Guzman.

Beyond the immediate measures to prepare for the worst-case scenarios in the Middle East, de Guzman said the government should also look into the adverse effects of the unpredictable oil pricing like the airline industry.

“Workers in the airline industry and those working at the airports are also affected by the oil price hikes. Even our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will also be affected,” said de Guzman.

He said the increase in terminal fees in some airports, including the looming one at the country’s main gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in September, is already hurting the OFWs and this will further aggravate if the adverse effects of unstable oil pricing is not properly addressed.