Hundreds of transport workers in the Philippines went on strike for a second straight day on Friday to protest a surge in fuel prices, days after the country’s president declared a national energy emergency stemming from the war in the Middle East.
Protesters in Manila, the capital, said that diesel prices had doubled since the war started on Feb. 28 and demanded that the government of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. take action to reduce fuel prices, increase transport fares and raise wages.
The strike, which included drivers of popular passenger vehicles known as jeepneys, forced the government to deploy special buses to transport thousands of stranded residents. The government recently began handing out the equivalent of $84 each to tens of thousands of motorized tricycle and jeepney drivers around the capital.
The protests were smaller than some previous labor actions in the Philippines, suggesting that parts of the public recognize that the soaring fuel costs are largely the result of a war thousands of miles away. But striking workers said that the rising prices were painful.
Jaime Ricafrente, 72, a jeepney driver for four decades, said that he broke down in tears on Friday after his name was left off a list of drivers eligible for the government’s emergency subsidy.
“I felt hopeless, with no one to turn to,” he said.
Mr. Ricafrente said that he later received private aid after an appeal for help on the local radio, and that he would spend that money on milk for his grandchild, who lives with him and his wife.
On Friday, Mr. Marcos said that the government was seeking alternative sources of crude oil outside of the Middle East. A shipment of 700,000 barrels of Russian crude arrived on Thursday, and the Marcos administration said that it had enough to last through June.
But it wasn’t immediately clear how soon that would have an effect on fuel prices. Ruelle Roxas Jr., a 53-year-old driver and father of six, said that he might look for work at construction sites.
“I don’t have enough to pay for diesel, which has doubled in price,” he said.
The energy crisis has also roiled domestic politics. The left-leaning political group Bayan, which supported the transport workers’ strike, called for sustained demonstrations against the Marcos administration’s handling of the crisis. Raymond Palatino, the group’s secretary general, said that poorer Filipinos bore the heaviest burden.
“Most Filipinos are barely surviving due to soaring prices and the general cost-of-living crisis,” he said.
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
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