Manila  - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday appealed to all Filipinos to save on fuel and electricity consumption amid skyrocketing prices.

In a message marking World Environment Day, Arroyo also directed all government agencies and entities to undertake energy-saving measures.

"The era of cheap and plentiful fossil fuel, the source of much of our fuel, is definitely over," she said. "In this context, cutting down on fuel and electricity consumption is an economic imperative, a moral duty and a global obligation."

"Much of the world has adopted stringent measures to cut down the consumption of fuel and electricity," she added.

Arroyo said reducing fuel and electricity consumption would also be a "direct boost to our environmental programmes, specifically efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change."

She encouraged government agencies and entities to find innovative ways to substantially lower fuel and electricity consumption to benefit their employees.

"The savings, translated into peso value, shall be given back to the personnel of complying agencies in the form of additional rice and transport subsidies," she said. (dpa)