MANILA, Philippines – Posibleng magkaroon ng rollback sa presyo ng mga produktong petrolyo pagkatapos ng biyahe ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sa Saudi Arabia.
“Okay, actually, we’re going far, far ahead na because so far we’re only… at this point, we’re still talking of possible cooperation on supply activities,” sinabi ni Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Office of ASEAN Affairs Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu sa press briefing sa Palasyo nitong Lunes, Oktubre 16.
“But anyway, indirectly, yes, because among the… of course, the basic root of the high energy prices are of course shortages and instability in the region.”
Idinagdag pa ni Espiritu na, “If the two original organizations can cooperate on that and assure each other a continued and reliable supply in spite of what we called the vicissitudes of energy economics and the geopolitical instabilities, then we can more or less assure each other of a… or we can rather assure ASEAN of a continued and consistent volume of supply throughout the year.”
Nakatakdang magtungo si Marcos sa Saudi Arabia para dumalo sa 2023 ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit.
Ani Espiritu, mahalaga ang GCC dahil binubuo ito ng “highly developed” Arab economies, at mga bansang kilala bilang petrochemical powerhouses, at hub and logistics economies.
“Now, they can help ASEAN in addressing energy and food security – energy security because they’re petrochemical powerhouses – but also food security because some of the countries there, especially Qatar, are among the largest producers of fertilizers and they can fill up the slack or the deficit on the ASEAN side,” dagdag ng opisyal. RNT/JGC
