FILIPINOS REELING FROM HIGH FUEL prices should consider walking, using bikes instead of cars, or car pooling, Malacañang said Saturday.

President Macapagal-Arroyo?s deputy spokesperson, Lorelei Fajardo, aired the suggestion in an interview over radio dzRB in the course of pointing out that the government had no control over skyrocketing pump prices.

?We are just importing crude oil. So I guess the best [thing] everyone can do now is, first of all, conserve not just electricity but also gasoline,? Fajardo said.

?Walk, use a bike, or carpool,? she said, adding that the people should not rely too much on the government for energy and fuel subsidies.

Fajardo said switching from four wheels to two was a cost-effective way of lessening dependence on imported fuel.

?Everyone has his own role to play,? she said, stressing that the President had already ordered government offices to conserve energy.

Fajardo also thanked transport groups for deciding to call off the strike originally scheduled on Tuesday to pressure the government to increase the minimum fare, among other demands.

?We appreciate that,? she said, disclosing that the decision was reached after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board pledged to formulate ways to provide subsidies to the transport sector, including fuel discounts.

Official policy

At Thursday?s observance of World Environment Day, Ms Arroyo said she had made saving fuel and electricity an official policy of her administration.

She announced in a speech before students of the Eulogio ?Amang? Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology in Manila, that starting this week, all government agencies and entities, including government-owned and -controlled corporations, had been directed to start power- and fuel-saving measures.

?Everyone in this nation, public and private, has an obligation to meet the needs of the nation on vital services like energy,? Ms Arroyo said.

?The era of cheap and plentiful fossil fuels, the source of much of our fuel, and a major generator of electricity in the Visayas and Mindanao, is definitely over. In this context, cutting down on fuel and electricity consumption is an economic imperative, a moral duty and a global obligation,? she said.

In Administrative Order No. 228 issued on June 2, the President ordered all government entities to save on transport fuel cost by a minimum of 10 percent starting this month.

She wants all government offices to replace all incandescent bulbs with fluorescent lamps by July, and to convert the fuel of their vehicles in major cities from gasoline to liquid petroleum by September.

No choice

Consumers have no choice but to bear the burden of high oil prices because there is no relief in sight, according to Peter Lee U, dean of the School of Economics at the University of Asia and the Pacific.

?For the medium term, we?re still looking at high oil prices. It?s something that we have to live with,? he said.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes also had no comforting words to say.

At this point, all the government and other industry stakeholders can do is ensure an adequate supply of petroleum products in the face of escalating world prices, Reyes said.

?Oil companies should keep adequate inventories and ensure uninterrupted supply,? Reyes said.

He said refiners Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. had assured the Department of Energy ?that they can supply our requirements.? With a report from Abigail L. Ho