The Philippine peso breached ₱60 to a US dollar, closing at ₱60.10 on Thursday, the lowest it had been in history.
While overseas Filipinos and their families in the Philippines may gain from the higher exchange rates, current runaway oil prices, higher utility rates and inflationary costs of food items have long cancelled the temporary benefit.
The peso to dollar rate before the Middle East War was at ₱57.608 to a US dollar. There have been four successive devaluations since the West Asia crisis started.
The price of a litre of diesel have more than doubled from ₱55 to ₱120 in some parts of the archipelago since the joint US-Israel attack on Iran that threatens to inflate further as the war shows no sign of de-escalation in the near future.
Prices of food items have been inflating, with roadside eateries – popular among poor Filipinos – pondering price increases.
“Cooking gas, rice, meat and vegetables prices have already increased as our suppliers depend on diesel for delivery,” Mercedes, a food vendor, explained. She said she has increased the price of a portion of rice by ₱5 to ₱20 and started selling half-portions of viand to her regular customers who are tricycle drivers.
Tricycle drivers in Barangay Commonwealth in Quezon City earned between ₱200 to ₱300 per day in the predominantly poor community before the US-Israel-Iran war.
Electricity, water rate hikes
Even before the war in West Asia started, electricity supplier Meralco announced a rate increase of ₱0.6427 per kWh for the month, bringing the total residential rate to ₱13.8161 per kWh. A typical household consuming 200 kWh will see an increase of about ₱129 in their monthly bill due to higher transmission charges and increased ancillary service costs.
Water suppliers have also announced rate hikes for March, with Maynilad increasing by an average of ₱0.09 per cubic meter while Manila Water shall apply an upward adjustment of ₱0.04 per cubic meter. Filipino households usually increase their water consumption as the hot and humid season usually starts in April until August.
The peso’s value dive would also prove problematic for the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government that is already grappling with a trade-in-goods deficit of US$49.17 billion in 2025, driven by a 4.7% rise in imports (US$133.57 billion).
This is expected to be compounded as the Philippines scrambles for alternative sources of both refined and crude oil products as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
In 2025, the Philippines’ net energy imports cost the country US$9.276 billion in refined petroleum and $2.7 billion in crude petroleum, reflecting continued high reliance on foreign oil to support the economy.
The country’s traditional source of refined petroleum products – China, Japan and South Korea – have announced a suspension of exports to customers like the Philippines, worsening supply problems of liquefied petroleum gas and crude oil sourced from the Middle East. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
