Business is apprehensive over the apparent unclear energy policy of the Marcos administration particularly at this time of rising prices.
This is aggravated only by the fact that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has yet to appoint a secretary of the Department of Energy.
In a statement, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said Marcos should define his administration’s agenda on energy supply security and affordable power cost especially if the government wants to attract new investments.
It’s important to have new DOE sec. to set the tone,” said PCCI president George Barcelon.
Barcelon said private sector is ready to make suggestions to, and collaborate with, the government in view of upcoming energy crisis.
“Power supply shortage has become a regular occurrence especially during the summer months when the output of our hydroelectric power plants decrease significantly. But a more pressing concern is our power rate. Industries such as steel, cement and glass have expressed their apprehension to us over how much electricity rates are forecasted to increase as supply for reliable baseload like coal, oil and LNG are becoming scarce commodity,” Barcelon said.
He cited studies which have shown that electricity rates for residential, commercial and the industrial sectors in the Philippines have been significantly higher from between 25 percent and as high as 87 percent than those in other Asean countries
This impacts heavily on manufacturing industries which have reported that energy, namely fuel and power, comprise 60 percent of their operations’ costs.
“Sustaining recovery from the pandemic and building on reform measures intended to attract foreign direct investments in jobs-creating industries demand the assurance of a reasonably-priced and steady power supply capable of meeting production needs,” Barcelon said.
For legislations such as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises and the amendments to the Public Service Act and Foreign Investments Act to succeed in their intended results to bring back a dynamic production/manufacturing sector, Barcelon said the government must effectively solve the high cost of electricity’ impediment soonest, and ensure that there is enough supply to support businesses and industries.
In his inaugural address, Marcos said energy is a priority alongside agriculture, digital infrastructure and the Build, Build, Build but did not provide the specifics. – Irma Isip
