INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said that the forthcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit (Asean-GCC) can lead to stabilized fuel prices in the region.
DFA Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu said the GCC and Asean are still discussing the possible areas of cooperation.
“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. Now, with that, we can mitigate the higher prices of oil in Asean,” said Espiritu in a Palace briefing.
Asked if the Asean-GCC Summit could help mitigate the rising fuel prices, Espiritu explained that there could be an impact.
“Indirectly, yes, because among the—of course, the basic root of the high energy prices are of course shortages and instability in the region,” he said.
Espiritu added that the summit will also address food security in the region.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Asean-GCC Summit on October 19.