The Philippine government is considering fuel rationing, among others, as one of the energy saving measures to tackle the oil crisis, an energy official said Wednesday.

Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said at a press conference that the government has taken into serious consideration a draft legislation of fuel rationing, which it will submit to the Congress to stem effects of a looming oil crisis.

Lotilla said that the Cabinet economic managers have also recommended President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Congress to consider measures such as establishing and administering a fuel allocation and rationing program if and when necessary, requiring the distribution and sale of energy blends to increase the use of domestic energy resources, and requiring industrial, commercial, and transport entities to collect or cause the collection of waste oil for recycling as fuel or lubricating oil.

Other measures include regulating the use of air-conditioning units for commercial and industrial establishments and staggering work hours in commercial and industrial establishments or offices or fixing the number of working days per week as well as regulating the use of motor vehicles nationwide to conserve fuel and relieve traffic congestion.

Lotilla said the proposal would be ready in a few days.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita also warned at the briefing that the escalating oil prices had become a "national security threat".

However, the government economic managers assured the nation that the Philippines was still far from becoming an Argentina, which suffered an economic meltdown even as the oil prices continue to rise.

Financial Secretary Margarito Teves said that what happened in Argentina was total economic collapse due to various causes and not just oil price hikes and budget deficit.

"That will take a long explanation because what happened in Argentina was a combination of fiscal, economic and foreign exchange (problems)," Teves said.

"What we have now is just the fiscal crisis, but we will be able to reduce our deficit especially if we are lucky that the Supreme Court will lift the TRO (temporary restraining order on the expanded value-added tax implementation) and the agencies improve their collections within the next five or six months," he said.

Teves added the expenditures of the government remain within the program and he was optimistic the target deficit would be achieved.

President Arroyo earlier issued an Executive Order mandating all government departments and agencies to reduce their monthly consumption of electricity and petroleum products by 10 percent.

Other energy-saving measures include the implementation of organized bus routes and reduced use of artificial illumination, she said.

The oil price in the world market has reached more than 67 US dollars per barrel, prompting the Philippine government to order an all-out energy conservation in both the public and private sectors.

Source: Xinhua