AN administration lawmaker yesterday appealed to the Senate leadership to include in its list of priorities the passage of the Palace-backed Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry (PDNGI) Development Act which is meant to help bring down electricity rates in the face of constant price increases.
“Managing our energy costs and ensuring that we are able to stabilize it through this measure is our priority. It affects the prices of basic commodities and necessities of our fellow Filipinos. That’s why the House worked hard to prioritize this proposed law,” said Rep. Jude Acidre (PL, Tingog), one of the principal authors of the measure’s House version, House Bill No. 8456.
The House approved the bill on third reading in August last year. The counterpart measure, Senate Bill No. 2247 authored by Sen. Raffy Tulfo, is still being reviewed by a technical working group.
The House and the Senate are set to adjourn sine die on May 25 but session will resume on July 21, the opening day of the Third Regular Session of the 19th Congress.
Acidre, while admitting the House-approved measure, which is a legislative priority of the Marcos administration, is not a “silver bullet” that will address all the problems in the energy sector, said it will definitely “alleviate the conditions of our energy supply.”
The bill seeks to create the PDNGI to promote indigenous natural gas as a “safe, environment-friendly, efficient, and cost-effective source of energy” and put in place state policy for the full development of the Philippine natural gas industry.
“More importantly, its inclusion as one of the LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council) priorities of this administration needs no further explanation or plea for its immediate passage. This proposed law is one of the important policies under Bagong Pilipinas,” Acidre said.
Acidre said the country needs a PDNGI in place to sustain stability in electricity supply. “Considering the energy crisis that repeatedly comes to fore every summertime, the development of the downstream natural gas industry can help enhance the country’s energy security by diversifying its energy sources,” he said.
He echoed the views of fellow authors of the bill that a natural gas development policy would reduce Philippine reliance on imported fuel “and lead to a stable and secure energy supply.”
