MANILA — Average power prices sold at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in March rose to P4.31/kilowatt-hour, up 23 percent compared to the P3.50/kWh average the previous month, data from the Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) released on Wednesday showed.

There is also a surge in Luzon's average spot market price, despite the decrease in averages in Visayas and Mindanao, IEMOP said.

The average power price for Luzon rose 52.5 percent to P4.10/kWh from P2.6/kWh in February.

IEMOP data showed that in Visayas, average prices slightly declined to P5.08/kWh from P5.37/kwh, and in Mindanao, the average also decelerated to P4.43/kWh from P5.25/kWh.

The IEMOP explained that this was due to several factors, such as increased demand as the hotter months approached and some maintenance activities that affected the distribution of power from plants, IEMOP Vice President for Market Operations Isidro Cacho said.

"Mababa yung price natin sa Luzon especially January, February and a little over March kasi definitely ang demand natin mababa, malamig... so when we came in nitong towards April ayan nakakita na tayo, second half ng March nakita na natin pag taas ng demand," Cacho said.

"Nagkaroon kasi ng maintenance ng major line natin that resulted to congestion sa Luzon, that congestion reflected required the dispatch, schedule ng mas mahal na planta, yung mas mura hindi makatawid," he added.

The impact on power consumers will depend on where they are located as distribution companies and electric cooperatives source a certain percent of their supply from the spot market.

Meanwhile, the Energy Regulatory Commission said it has adopted a modified administered pricing mechanism for the WESM, which took effect last March 26 to help stabilize electricity rates and optimize supply, following the government's declaration of the National Energy Emergency.

Under the measure, the ERC said it has set a fixed administered price of P6,000 per megawatt-hour for coal-fired power plants while other sources are to follow existing pricing methodology.

IEMOP said this move could "avert" price spikes especially during the hotter months when demand peaks.

"Sa projections natin umaabot ng P9, sa extreme scenario umabot pa ng P12... but we don't see na maapply pa yung P9...Naavert yung tinatawag nating seasonal price spike and additional price increase brought about by the increase in fuel costs... 'yan I think is a very good policy action from our regulators to stabilize prices," Cacho said.

The ERC has also earlier ordered power distributors to notify the regulator of scheduled price spikes and to stagger increases to cushion the blow on consumers.

MANILA — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said he is looking to provide aid to vegetable farmers in La Trinidad, Benguet, and other parts of the Cordillera.

Tiu-Laurel said he was studying this measure after learning that some farmers were forced to let their harvests rot in the field because they can no longer afford to transport their produce due to soaring fuel prices. 

In an ambush interview in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday, April 8, Tiu-Laurel said he went to La Trinidad, Benguet last week and met with the farmers to find solutions to their problems.

Laurel said farmers have an overproduction of vegetables and need logistics support.   

“Galing ako sa La Trinidad last week, I met with the farmers na nandon, the problem nila is logistics talaga - kasi medyo over production sila,” Tiu-Laurel told reporters. 

Laurel said the agency is now preparing an assistance package for affected farmers. 

“So I have a team now in Benguet and going to other regions para makita yung sitwasyon and we are preparing a package for them -for possible fuel assistance, fertilizer assistance, and seed assistance para tuloy-tuloy silang mag-harvest at tuloy-tuloy nating maibaba ang produkto mula mountain regions,” said Tiu-Laurel. 

“Meron din tayong mga truck na dineploy na—binabayaran ng DA ang fuel para maibaba yung gulay at least from the farm to the trading post,” he added.  

MANILA -- The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will roll out a service contracting program for public utility vehicles starting April 15, 2026 to help sustain public transportation operations amid the ongoing fuel crisis, Secretary Banoy Lopez said Wednesday.

The program, which was one of the measures also implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, is designed to ease commuting costs for passengers while supporting transport operators and drivers, with the government subsidizing their earnings during free rides.

Lopez said the DOTr has secured P1 billion in funding from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), after requesting the funds as early as March 16.

“Nabigay na. I’m going to use my existing NCA (Notice of Cash Allocation) na fund para lang magamit ko na yung service contracting, and we can start by April 15,” he said.

Lopez said the initiative will be implemented nationwide, although the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is still finalizing the number of routes and public utility vehicles (PUVs) to be covered.

Earlier implementations of the service contracting program had two different types of contracts for PUVs: gross and net.   

Under the Gross Service Contract or Libreng Sakay, commuters get free rides, and operators are paid based on their daily number of trips. 

Under the Net Service Contract, commuters are still required to pay fares, and operators are paid an agreed-upon amount covering a portion of the operational and maintenance costs.

Lopez added that the agency is including routes that connect to major transport systems.

“Ang habol kasi namin ngayon may feeder routes kami sa busway, papunta sa LRT-1, LRT-2, sa mass transit para hindi rin sayang,” he said.

The DOTr is set to hold a press conference on Friday to give more details.

Lopez also said he has requested additional funding to keep the service contracting program going as long as necessary.

MANILA -- The Department of Agriculture is waiting for the approval from Malacañang before it can implement the recommendation of the National Price Coordinating Council to implement a price cap on imported rice, Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Wednesday.

The recommended price cap is at P50 per kilo of imported rice. This is after prices of rice rose recently along with other products as the prices of fuel soared due to the war in the Middle East.

“As far as imported rice is concern, yung recommendation ng National Price Coordinating Council headed by DTI will be sent to the president very soon. Its up to the president, kelan niya pipirmahan yung price cap na P50 sa imported rice, then few days after depende sa rules, i-implement na namin yun - that will be under Price Act kasi,” said Tiu-Laurel.

The DA chief, however, is hesitant to implement the same to local rice.

“Kaya yung imported rice ang puwede nating i-control. Sa local rice, hindi masyadong wise na lagyan natin ng price cap, dahil kasagsagan ngayon ng harvests. Maraming harvest ngayon, the tendency is bababa din ang local rice,” Tiu-Laurel explained.

As a member of the UPLIFT Committee created by Malacanang to safeguard national interest and ensure stability of domestic energy and food supply, Tiu-Laurel said the DA is also looking into giving out assistance to farmers affected by high fuel prices.

“Kahapon napag-usapan naman sa UPLIFT na at least yung diesel baka kung may paraan na makatulong kami na i-targeted lalo sa agri trucks, naghahanap kami ng pondo within the DA para mapondohan namin for the agricultural trucks para makatulong sa mga farmers,” Tiu-Laurel said.

MANILA -- Philippine Airlines (PAL) is resuming its flights from Manila to Riyadh on April 10.

In a statement, PAL noted, however, that the flight will be taking a different route to ensure the safety of its passengers. 

The flights will briefly refuel in Bangkok before continuing on to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

"No deplaning is required; passengers will remain on board while the aircraft refuels," the airline said.

PAL said it is monitoring developments in the Middle East "and will restore normal routing and full capacity as conditions allow."

PAL earlier suspended flights to Riyadh amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The flag carrier has also suspended some of its flights as global oil prices continue to climb.

It stressed, however, that it has enough jet fuel supply to support its operations "for the foreseeable future."