Camille Naredo

Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran on March 1, 2026. Atta Kenare, AFP/File

Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran on March 1, 2026. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since 1989 and sworn enemy of the West, was killed in the opening salvo of a massive US and Israeli attack, sparking a new wave of retaliatory missile strikes from Tehran on March 1. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Article (news)

IRAN

Jekki Pascual

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1773758663734AFP__20260301__99EU28E__v1__MidRes__IranIsraelUsConflict.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran on March 1, 2026. Atta Kenare, AFP/File" width="960"/>Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran on March 1, 2026. Atta Kenare, AFP/FileMANILA -- The heads of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines expressed cautious optimism amid the Middle East conflict which is affecting fuel prices in the country.</div>They say the Philippines will still grow but not at a pace initially expected.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/3/17/fuel-rationing-not-needed-yet-doe-1811">READ: Fuel rationing not needed yet – DOE</a></div>Ayala Corporation Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and SM Investments Corporation Vice Chairman Teresita Sy were among the speakers in one of the panel discussions of the InvestPH conference. There, they said they are confident the Philippines will still grow this 2026, albeit at a slower pace.&quot;We are really confident about the Philippines&#x27; growth. We may be disrupted by all this conflict, but we have gone through that. Last year 2025, we were doing ok, and then the internal politics of flood control came in, we all went down, by December we&#x27;re up again,&quot; Sy said.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/3/17/israel-says-killed-iran-national-security-chief-larijani-2108">READ: Israel says killed Iran national security chief Larijani</a></div>However, she acknowledged that the country may not be able to hit the government&#x27;s economic growth target of 5 to 6 percent.&quot;With all of these external problems, I don&#x27;t think we can make the 5 to 6 percent, but I would be happy with our growth if we can make some growth even at 2-3 percent. That would sustain us for this year,&quot; Sy said.Zobel de Ayala added that consumption may be affected by the oil price hikes. He said this may also be a psychological issue if consumers are feeling less optimistic about the economy.&quot;If people are not feeling good, if people are nervous, people would rather save because they&#x27;re unsure about the future, then generally all our business will suffer. It&#x27;s not just about the price of energy at this specific point in time. It&#x27;s a psychological effect it has on people,&quot; he said.But both remain hopeful of the country&#x27;s fundamentals. They said in order to further beef the economy amid external shocks, the government should prioritize more public private partnerships and push for renewable energy.&quot;The least the country needs to have and I think this crisis proves it, we have to have a much more diversified portfolio of energy sources,&quot; Zobel de Ayala said.&quot;Renewable energy is one and maybe if the government can accelerate the PPP in many of the infrastructure, that would also be something that can replace some of the diversions of government because of this conflict,&quot; Sy added.The executives also shared a light moment when Sy urged Zobel de Ayala to invest in an oil refinery.&quot;You talked about the refinery, I know it&#x27;s a very big project so it could be part of a PPP and I&#x27;m pushing Jaime to push the shelve to do something like that. Do it for the country. We have to be a bit more independent,&quot; Sy said.To which Zobel de Ayala replied: &quot;I will gladly invest in it together with you, Tessie.&quot;He added later in the panel that this is actually a good idea. &quot;Tessie was joking but it&#x27;s a great idea. She was emphasizing we should move towards more value added investment… Bold enough to begin to have value added layers within our country rather than just export more,&quot; said Zobel de Ayala.Both officials said their companies will continue to monitor the situation and assess the impact of the war on the Philippine economy. They remain optimistic the country will survive this economic bump.Sy said: &quot;We hope it&#x27;s temporary, so we can prepare for the better days.&quot;

The heads of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines expressed cautious optimism amid the Middle East conflict which is affecting fuel prices in the country.

The heads of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines expressed cautious optimism amid the Middle East conflict which is affecting fuel prices in the country.

Ayala, Sy expect slower growth due to conflict in Middle East

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Ayala, Sy expect slower growth due to conflict in Middle East

Jekki Pascual,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 17, 2026 11:57 PM PHT

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Updated March 18, 2026 01:39 AM PHT

Read More:

Middle East

conflict

war

Iran

Israel

United States

Philippines

conglomerates

Ayala Corporation

SM Investments

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