Press Statement
March 27, 2026
As the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to impact oil and fuel prices in the Philippines and across the world, working Filipinos are facing the brunt of the impact. The fuel price increase has particularly affected transportation workers, who have responded by asserting their demands to the Marcos Jr regime through a series of strikes in the past week.
Following the price of diesel going up to P134.30 (USD2.22) per litre on March 24, the “No to Oil Price Hike” Coalition, led by Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (PISTON-KMU), spearheaded a second 2-day transportation strike, on March 26-27. This second strike was more broadly based than the first, and the coalition sharpened its demands.
Manibela, “Steering Wheel” (Federation of Drivers, Commuters, and United Transportation Terminals), members of the University of the Philippines community, and other groups also joined the protests. Manibela chairperson Mar Valbuena said more than 20 strike centers were staging protests across Metro Manila and other major cities in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, involving jeepney, bus, transportation network vehicle services (TNVS) and motorcycle taxi drivers, along with commuter groups and other sectors.
The Marcos Jr government had made no substantial response to their demands to rein in the cost of fuel and to increase jeepney fares and to increase the minimum wage. Instead, Marcos Jr declared a National Energy Emergency, and the government made a first payment to drivers P5,000 (USD82.86) to subsidise their fuel costs. But this only covers increased fuel costs for less than two days. The emergency declaration empowers the President to cut the price of fuel, but he has not done so.
The Coalition urged the government to reduce fuel prices to P55 (USD0.91) per liter, scrap the value-added tax and excise taxes on petroleum, increase jeepney fares by P5 (USD0.08) and repeal the Oil Deregulation Law, which they blame for unchecked price increases. They are demanding stronger action to end the US and Israeli war against Iran and Lebanon, and for a national minimum wage of P1,200 (USD19.88) per day.
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Nicolas Torre III coordinated free ride buses, but these will only be activated if passengers are stranded.
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) upholds the right of the transport workers to protest against the impossible increase in fuel costs that they are expected to bear by the government, especially when their demands are in the interests of the whole Filipino society.
After one month of the US and Israeli war on Iran and Lebanon, not only is there a fuel price shock, but now there is a genuine reduction in supply of fuel. This will now impact employment and production nation-wide and across Asia, intensifying the already heavy burden of poverty on the Filipino people. The hike in fuel prices is raising the costs of basic commodities while also resulting in diminishing income for farmers. As well, there will be an impact on Overseas Filipino Workers and their families, reducing the flow of remittances on which the society also relies.
Everyone should note – diesel cost P57.60 per liter in January 2026, and now at the end of March 2026 the cost is P134.30 per liter.
ICHRP urges the international community to act far more decisively to bring the war to an end, and to bring down the price of fuel. The US war of aggression is enacting devastating impacts on people across the world, and we stand with the whole Filipino people in their assertion of their economic and political rights.
