The Philippine government said on Saturday that all sectors of the Philippine society must cooperate in the government's energy conservation program to control the impact of oil price rise.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the whole country would suffer from the soaring oil prices "if we do not act as one to confront the challenge." "The whole national team must get its act together ... The looming oil crisis that threatens the economy, already weighed down by heavy financial obligations, must be our singular point offocus," he said.

He said different organized sectors, the civil society and the Church must extend all possible assistance and partnership to the government in its energy saving efforts.

Budget and Management Secretary Romulo Neri also said the country would have to cope with the looming oil crisis brought about by the continuous increase in fuel prices at the international market.

Neri also ruled out the possibility that the Philippines can get cheaper oil products from any new channel of oil supply.

"It's a market commodity. We cannot go around begging for special prices," Neri said in a radio interview.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has called for a truce between her and her opponents in order to let her government focus on how to meet the challenges posed by rising oil prices.

Arroyo will make a stopover in Saudi Arabia to discuss cooperation in oil supply when she travels to New York to attend a United Nations assembly meeting in September.

Source: Xinhua