Diesel prices climbed ₱1.96 per liter and gasoline ₱1.60 per liter at pumps nationwide starting Tuesday, May 26 — the fifth consecutive week of gasoline increases and the second straight diesel rise — as continued tensions in the Middle East kept global oil markets elevated. Kerosene rose ₱1.45 per liter the same day, the Department of Energy said in a Tagalog Facebook advisory.
The DOE attributed the adjustments to movements in the global oil market amid continued events in the Middle East affecting global supply and price, posting its statement in Tagalog. Diesel motorists have absorbed a cumulative two-week increase of roughly ₱4.77 per liter: a 50-liter tank now costs nearly ₱240 more than it did two weeks ago. The prior round on Tuesday, May 19, raised diesel ₱2.80 to ₱2.82 per liter and gasoline ₱1.20 to ₱1.21 per liter, while kerosene declined ₱2.11.
Metro Manila pump averages climbed to ₱91.80 per liter for diesel and ₱90.64 per liter for unleaded gasoline as of Tuesday, based on 964 stations tracked by GasWatch PH across 17 cities.
“We don’t put a cap on the price itself, but we put a cap on the adjustments,” Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said previously, describing the DOE-set price-adjustment limits framework operating under Executive Order No. 110, which President Bongbong Marcos signed on the evening of Tuesday, March 24, 2026, declaring a state of national energy emergency. The Department of Budget and Management approved the release of ₱20 billion from the Malampaya gas fund to the DOE the next day to secure supply. The Philippines imports roughly 98 percent of its oil from the Middle East.
The DOE called an emergency meeting with oil-industry players late Monday afternoon to discuss a roughly ₱10-per-liter “premium previously unfactored” into recent price movements, ABS-CBN journalist Alvin Elchico reported. That premium will be gradually reflected in price adjustments over the coming weeks. Diesel inventory stood at 41.07 days as of Friday, May 22, per the DOE — the tightest of the six liquid-fuel categories, against a total-fuel buffer of 44.82 days.
The next price-adjustment window arrives Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
