'PREPARE FOR WORST,' DOE COUNSELS PUBLIC

PREPARE for the worst but hope for the best.

- BY LENIE LECTURA X@llectura

A day after oil firms started implementing the highest, largest single-week increase, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said Tuesday that the worst is not yet over.

"For me, I would expect the worst because it's better to be overprepared. I don't have the vision of what will happen by next week or how long this will last. I just want to prepare. We must prepare for the worst," the energy chief said.

To make sure that "the Philippines will be okay fueland power-wise," Garin urged oil companies to order fuel imports early while the government seeks more sources of fuel from other countries. "If say, for instance, we can no longer buy from South Korea I am optimistic that we have other countries that we can buy fuel from like Canada, Brazil, India, and Australia. That is what we are doing now," she said in a radio interview.

Amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the potential ripple effects on global fuel markets, Garin said fuel rationing is not being considered as this would be a "very disruptive" move. "I am not recommending that now to the President...I don't think it will come to that. We will work hard to avoid that."

Oil firms agreed to implement staggered pump price adjustments beginning March 10 amid continued volatility in international oil prices linked to ongoing developments in the Middle East.