MANILA, 25 August 2005 — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will visit Saudi Arabia on her way to New York next month to ask whether the Philippines and other smaller economies can secure “affordable” oil prices, her chief aide said yesterday.
Arroyo will visit Saudi Arabia Sept. 11-12 to take up the issue of high oil prices before she attends the UN summit in New York, said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
“The supply of oil will be the major subject matter. Specifically, we will be asking for possible special consideration for more supplies of oil especially for economies that are different from the bigger economies of the world,” Ermita said.
“We can’t get a special price just for the Philippines,” he conceded but said Arroyo would ask Saudi leaders and the officials of oil-producing countries whom she meets at the UN for a special arrangement.
This would involve asking “oil-producing countries to make oil available to the Philippines and other countries similar to the Philippines at a price that is affordable and not continuously increasing,” Ermita told reporters. Arroyo will also inquire about the welfare of 365,000 Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia as well as the Philippines’ status with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Ermita added.
The Philippines has been seeking observer status in the OIC as part of its efforts to negotiate peace with local separatists.
The Arroyo government has been implementing energy conservation measures and seeking to exploit alternative power sources to cope with skyrocketing oil prices.
