Marcos open to Russia oil, says incoming NSA Clarita Carlos

President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is willing to make arrangements with Russia on possible oil sources amid skyrocketing prices, his incoming National Security Adviser (NSA) Clarita Carlos said.

In the latest episode of The Mangahas Interviews, Carlos said Russian Ambassador Marat Pavlov has sounded off assistance to the Philippines for the country's energy requirements.

“’Yung Russian ambassador already gave one option to the Philippines na kino-consider pa ni President. Actually, Malou noon pa kami nasa Moscow, sinasabi na ng Russia, 'yan kasi ang Russia ang daming natural gas at saka oil di ba,” she said.

“Nakita mo ‘yung Russia nandoon na sa north natin so bakit hindi? Tingnan natin kung yung logistics nyan magagawa. Kasi yung oil natin nanggagaling pa sa Saudi, Middle East, layo nun. So, why don't we consider that?” she added.

Carlos stressed, “Siyempre dahil lukob na lukob tayo sa anti-Russia, pro-US alisin na natin ang ganoong mindset kasi ngayon, this is an issue of energy security.”

Pavlov mentioned that oil and gas were among the topics discussed during his meeting with Marcos on Monday.

“We are ready to cooperate with [the] Philippine side to extend our helping hand to satisfy the needs in sources of energy,” Pavlov said.

The Department of Energy earlier said that pump prices of petroleum products could hit P100 per liter should the weekly increases continue due to a mix of factors.

According to Energy Undersecretary Gerardo Erquiza Jr., the increase to P100 per liter is possible, but this is unlikely to happen in a single week's increase.

"Kung based sa isang dramatic extreme reason, bigla na lang aangat at tataas, hindi naman po (aabot ng P100),” Erquiza said.

“Pero ang nangyayari dito, nagpapatong patong patong, may posibilidad ‘yan kung tuloy tuloy na bawat araw, bawat linggo ay tumataas. Pero ‘yung biglaan ho ang pag-angat at pagtaas ng P100, ‘yun ho ay hindi naman mangyayari most likely,” he added.—Mel Matthew Doctor/LDF, GMA News