NZ Herald Afternoon Headlines | Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Leaders around the world are enacting energy restrictions in response to the Middle East war – with the Philippines declaring a national energy emergency.
President Ferdinand Marcos jnr’s Administration said the Middle East war posed an imminent danger to “the availability and stability of the country’s energy supply”.
The declaration,which will last for a year, allows the President to implement the Government’s fuel and energy allocation plan.
The Department of Transportation will help the transport sector and commuters with a range of measures, including fuel subsidies and cheap public transport.
Select cities will have free buses and some public transport workers will receive a one-off payment of 5000 pesos ($142) to help with covering higher fuel prices, the ABCreported.
Some citizens would get social welfare and livelihood support while the Department of Trade and Industry was directed to monitor “unreasonable price increases on basic necessities”, the Administration said.
Asia Media Centre media adviser Carla Teng-Westergaard, a former journalist in the Philippines, said the move was needed for the country’s working poor who have “no savings buffer, no credit card, and no government safety net”.
“You are talking about a jeepney driver who cannot afford to fill his tank, so he doesn’t work, so his children don’t eat.”
She added that government declarations, however well-designed, are only as strong as the systems that deliver them.
Private drivers in Slovenia are restricted to 50 litres a day. Photo / Corey Fleming
In Europe, Slovenia has become the first country in the European Union to enact fuel rationing because of the war – but not because it is running out.
“Let me reassure you that there is enough fuel in Slovenia, the warehouses are full, and there will be no fuel shortages,” Prime Minister Robert Golob said at the weekend, the BBC reported.
Regulated fuel prices in Slovenia have kept fuel nearly 25% cheaper than neighbouring Austria, leading to “fuel tourism”, with drivers crossing the border to save money.
Slovenia’s Government has said private motorists are now limited to 50 litres of fuel per day.
The Minister of the Environment, Climate and Energy, Bojan Kumer, said the Government would further reduce the excise duty to “significantly lower price increases than they would otherwise be”.
State institutions have introduced a four-day work week in Sri Lanka. Photo / Sandy Galabada on Unsplash
In Sri Lanka, fuel prices have risen by a third since the war began nearly four weeks ago, AFP reported. The Government announced guidelines to reduce consumption by 25% to manage energy supply.
Government spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said state institutions had introduced a four-day work week and brought back work-from-home arrangements, according to Sri Lankan broadcasterNews 1st.
The Government has limited the use of air conditioning and said it must be maintained at 26C or higher.
“We hope the private sector too will abide by the guidelines,” Jayatissa said.
