Around 22.58 million liters of diesel have been delivered to the Philippines, augmenting domestic supply amid the challenges brought by the conflict in the Middle East.

In a Facebook post Thursday night, the Department of Energy (DOE) said the around 142,000 barrels of diesel was procured under its Emergency Energy Security Program, which has been allocated PHP20 billion.

The program is part of government measures in line with the issuance of Executive Order (EO) 110, which declared a national energy emergency due to the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The government aims to procure as much as 2 million barrels of additional fuel supply through the Philippine National Oil Corporation (PNOC) and the PNOC Exploration Corporation (PNOC EC).

“Patuloy ang pagtutok ng DOE upang madagdagan ang suplay ng langis sa bansa. Ang mabilis na pagdating ng diesel na ito ay bahagi ng mga hakbang para hindi maantala ang biyahe, hanapbuhay, at pang-araw-araw na buhay ng bawat Pilipino (The DOE will continue to focus on increasing domestic fuel supply. The immediate delivery of the diesel is part of the moves to prevent the disruption of travel, work and everyday lives of every Filipino),” DOE Secretary Sharon Garin said.

Garin, on her own Facebook page, said the arrival of the diesel is the first delivery from overseas, and that “there will be more deliveries in the coming days or weeks.”

“We’ve been working on this for three weeks, so to me, it looks like the most beautiful ship ever,” she said. (PNA)