The newly formed No To Oil Price Hike Coalition announced that it will hold a widespread transport strike and people’s protest on March 26 and 27. Workers from various modes of transport will join the strike and protest, including jeepney, UV express, motorcycle taxi, bus, and tricycle operators, as well as motorists, commuters, workers, students, and other sectors affected by rising oil prices.

The coalition was officially established on March 22. It includes 29 alliances and groups with local chapters in regions and provinces across the country. They are united to stop the endless rise in oil prices.

According to the coalition, the state clearly has the capacity to control crude price hikes and alleviate those affected. They said this can be done by implementing policies that favor the people, not rich oil companies like Shell, Caltex, and Petron. They also demand an end to the US war for oil, the main cause of the relentless price hikes.

The coalition formulated and agreed on the six points that it will carry for the strike and protest. They urged other groups and individuals to join their calls. These are:

1. Remove the value-added tax or VAT and excise tax on petroleum products.
2. Roll back crude prices to ₱55.00.
3. Scrap the Oil Deregulation Law and implement price controls on oil.
4. Implement fare hikes across all modes of transport, concurrent with the implementation of a ₱1,200 family living wage.
5. Nationalize the oil industry. Immediately, the government should buy crude and sell it at lower prices.
6. Stop the US war of aggression.

“Alliance members will launch a strike and people’s protest to push the 6-point demands, hold the Marcos government accountable for its inutility in responding to the oil crisis, and amplify the call to stop the US war,” the coalition said.

Aside from the scheduled strike, the coalition is also planning weekly pickets to confront and denounce the weekly oil price hikes.

New price hike

Companies implemented a new major oil price increase on March 24. Gasoline prices rose by ₱8–₱12/liter, diesel by ₱15–₱18/liter, and kerosene by ₱12–₱22/liter.

Gasoline prices consequently reached ₱82.6–₱112.4 depending on grade, regular diesel ₱107–₱134.3, premium diesel ₱114.99–₱144.2, and kerosene ₱111.99–₱165.79/liter at gas stations in Metro Manila and highly urbanized areas. At the start of 2026, gasoline prices were at ₱50–₱74.02/liter depending on grade, regular diesel at ₱47.77–₱67.9/liter, premium diesel at ₱53.30–₱71.9/liter, and kerosene at ₱71.7–₱92.89/liter.

Meanwhile, Ferdinand Marcos Jr staged his government’s self-aggrandizing and publicity-driven distribution of a ₱10,000 oil subsidy for public vehicles. Marcos himself went to the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) in Barangay Tambo, Parañaque City, to distribute the subsidy.