The Philippines became the first country in the world in March 2026 to declare a national energy emergency, triggered by geopolitical conflicts happening more than four time zones away. Diesel and gasoline prices doubled and even tripled almost overnight. Every jeepney driver absorbing higher fuel costs, every trucking company passing price increases down the supply chain, and every household paying more for goods that had to travel farther to get there felt the same crisis, but not in the same way. Those with the least buffer felt it the most.

The irony is that the Philippines is transitioning, but not everyone feels it.