LPG na, Lusi pa: The Philippines' Masterclass in Cooking in Reverse

Filipinos are going back to charcoal.

Not because they want to. Not because it's trendy. Not because some influencer on TikTok said it gives your sinigang "smoky depth." But because LPG — liquefied petroleum gas, the thing that has been keeping Filipino kitchens running since the '70s — is now so expensive that hauling a tambakul of charcoal is the economically rational decision.

LPG consumption in the Philippines dropped 30% in the last 40 days. Thirty percent. That's not a dip. That's a mass migration.

Former LPG Markers Association representative Arnel Ty confirmed what every Filipino already knew in their bones: cooking gas prices went up by ₱3 to ₱4 per kilogram — or roughly ₱33 to ₱44 more per 11-kilo tank. That's not chump change when your sahod hasn't moved since last Tuesday.

"Mas mahal na gas ko kaysa rent ko." — Every tito holding a receipts notebook right now

The charcoal shift isn't a lifestyle choice. It's a survival mechanism dressed up as tradition. The sari-sari store helper repacking charcoal into plastic bags at ₱7 per plastik. The lola suddenly discovering she has "maternal memories" of cooking over wood. The trike driver who now considers a charcoal briquet the unofficial third passenger.

We put a Filipino astronaut on the ISS. We passed the SIM Registration Act. We have four presidents simultaneously running for something. But we cannot figure out how to keep the gas on.

Chester tried to cook his first egg over charcoal this morning. The chicken got more smoke exposure than the average Metro Manila resident. It was, by all accounts, a disaster. But at least it was free.

The cruelest part? This story isn't new. We've been here before. Every few years, LPG prices spike, the middle class makes the grudging switch to charcoal or wood, and then — once prices normalize — everyone pretends it never happened. Like forgetting your lola's house smells like smoke for three days after you visit.

Nobody in government is saying "here's our plan to fix energy costs so your sinigang doesn't taste like a campfire." They're saying "the market will adjust." The market adjusted. To charcoal. Which is technically returning to the pre-colonial way of cooking. So congratulations, Philippines: we just discovered energy independence the hard way.

One things for sure: when historians write the story of the Philippines in the 2020s, they'll note two things: the rise of social media politics, and the great LPG collapse of 2026.

Chester is setting up a charcoal stand outside the gas station. Business is booming.