Transport group Piston vehemently condemns the US-Israeli military attacks on Iran, warning that the escalating conflict threatens to unleash severe economic devastation on Philippine transport workers and millions of OFW-dependent families.
The attacks, codenamed “Operation Epic Fury” by the Trump administration and “Lion’s Roar” by the Netanyahu regime, have already killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and pushed global oil markets into crisis. It also marks a dangerous escalation in naked imperialist aggression driven by Washington’s geopolitical agenda in West Asia.
For ordinary Filipinos, this is no longer a distant conflict, this is already a direct assault on them already struggling with economic hardship.
The Philippines imports 100% of its crude oil requirements, with 77% originating from countries now directly embroiled in the conflict as hosts of US military bases. Pump prices, which have already risen sharply since January — with diesel up by over P9.00 per liter — are projected to spike further as the Strait of Hormuz, through which 30% to 40% of Philippine oil imports flow, becomes a militarized zone. Every $10 increase in global crude prices translates to an additional P2.50 to P4.00 per liter at local pumps, a burden that deregulated oil companies automatically pass on to consumers while the government remains powerless due to three decades of neoliberal privatization policies brought by the Oil Deregulation Law.
Furthermore, the situation of approximately 1.5 to two million OFWs in West Asia raises serious alarm. These workers contribute 25% to 30% of total OFW remittances comprising eight to nine percent of national GDP. Even if only 10% of these workers are displaced, the resulting humanitarian crisis would affect 150,000 to 200,000 Filipinos, with economic repercussions extending to nearly one million family members domestically. The potential loss of $500 million in income over six months, combined with oil shock inflation that costs the poorest 10% of households nearly three percent of their incomes, creates domestic volatility intimately connected to imperialist war mechanisms overseas.
Meanwhile, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) has transformed the Philippines into a forward operating base for US imperialism, with American troops maintaining facilities in nine locations alongside deployed missile systems and drone operations spanning from Mindanao to the West Philippine Sea. Recent attacks on US installations in West Asia demonstrate that hosting American military infrastructure invites retaliation rather than security. The Marcos Jr. administration’s expansion of US military presence ignores this lesson and continues to endanger the Filipino people.
Piston demands an immediate end to all military operations against Iran, the complete withdrawal of US troops and weapons from the Philippines, the comprehensive evacuation and livelihood support for affected OFWs, the immediate scrapping of VAT and excise tax on petroleum products, and the nationalization of the oil industry to establish genuine price controls.
Piston affirms solidarity with the Iranian and Palestinian people, and all oppressed nations fighting for self-determination against colonial and imperialist aggression.