Whether you are a believer of Feng Shui or a skeptic of the entire practice, it is no question that nature’s different elements directly affect our daily lives and future.
Our basic needs and commodities can be easily connected with the elements of fire, earth, water and electricity as we cannot survive without food, water, power, fuel and even mineral ores.
Having survived the peak of chaos brought by the effects of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 2020 and 2021, industries related to the elements are all optimistic that this year, recovery of all sectors will be sustained and achieved.
Earth and the mining sector
For the local mining sector, all indicators point to a very positive year especially with the government’s recent lifting of the ban on open pit mining first implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in 2017.
The government also lifted last year the moratorium on new mineral agreements between the government and the private sector which was prohibited since 2012.
The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) said this will help unlock at least $1.8 billion in additional exports and P12 billion in revenues for the government.
COMP said new policy will allow the local mining sector to provide additional government revenues in the form of taxes, fees and royalties apart from increased export value as well as employment opportunities.
The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) said (the lifting of the ban and the moratorium) will help unlock at least $1.8 billion in additional exports and P12 billion in revenues for the government.
Better flow for the water sector
Water distribution concessionaires in Metro Manila see this year to be better than the previous years after forging revised concession agreements with the government.
Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Co. Inc. each secured a new 25-year franchise to establish, operate and maintain a waterworks and sewerage system in Metro Manila after several spats with the government in recent years.
Both companies are optimistic recoveries will be experienced this year in terms of income, revenues and billed volume.
However, the sector cannot celebrate as early as now since the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and its partner agencies involved in the management of the Angat Dam are encouraging the public to conserve and wisely use water resources whenever possible this year.
NWRB said this will ensure sufficient water is available for municipal, irrigation and hydropower uses in the subsequent months, particularly during the summer season as Angat Dam’s elevation is now below the normal high water level.
Angat Dam supplies more than 500 million gallons or 97 percent of daily water consumption in Metro Manila alongside parts of Rizal, Bulacan and Cavite with a population of around 12 million.
Current projections of the agencies show the dam may reach its minimum operating level of 180 meters in the middle of April which would mean sufficient water supply until the onset of the rainy season by the middle part of the year.
(T)he National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and its partner agencies involved in the management of the Angat Dam are encouraging the public to conserve and wisely use water resources whenever possible this year…(as)this will ensure sufficient water is available for municipal, irrigation and hydropower uses in the subsequent months, particularly during the summer season as Angat Dam’s elevation is now below the normal high water level.
The bounty of food from earth and water
Typhoon Odette hit the country at the tailend of 2021 causing as much as P13.3 billion in damage, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
That is equivalent to 273,062 metric tons (MT) of agriculture goods tended by 533,709 farmers and fishers in 462,766 hectares (ha) of affected areas.
Affected regions include Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen and Caraga.
The bulk of Odette’s agricultureal damage is from fisheries at P3.97 billion followed by rice at P2.12 billion; high value crops at P2 billion; coconut at P1.62 billion;; sugarcane at P1.15 billion; agricultural infrastructure at P956.9 million; corn at P644.1 million; livestock and poultry at P535.4 million; abaca at P310.3 million; and agricultural machineries and equipment at P13.1 million.
DA said P2.9 billion is available to assist farmers and fishermen through quick response funds, seeds, insurance, fingerlings, animal drugs and biologics.
Despite the devastation, the DA assured supply of basic agricultural and fisheries commodities are sufficient even in areas with heightened alert levels due to the pandemic.
DA said apart from pork, vegetables and fruits that are out of season are the only goods observed to have low supply at present. However, the agency mentioned that for lowland vegetables, prices can be expected to taper down this February when harvest season begins.
With immediate aid for recovery in mind, local producers warned that some of them may be discouraged to continue farming and animal raising if unabated importation of goods will continue this year.
Tugon Kabuhayan and other agriculture stakeholders have called on government policy makers to reassess decisions on importation which has been affecting domestic producers.
Asis Perez, Tugon Kabuhayan convenor, said before that if no immediate action will be done, the country’s food security may be affected if the government would continue to be food dependent to foreign countries.
Tugon Kabuhayan and other agriculture stakeholders have called on government policy makers to reassess decisions on importation which has been affecting domestic producers…if no immediate action will be done, the country’s food security may be affected if the government would continue to be food dependent to foreign countries.
The warmth of fire from fuel
The year was welcomed with reports of possible scarcity of coal — the country’s most consumed type of fuel to generate electricity.
At the start of the year, Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of coal, suspended exports to prioritize stockpiling inventory for local use.
The Philippines imported a total of 29.52 million MT of coal at the end of 2020, with 96.88 percent bought from Indonesia.
As of end-2020, total installed generation from coal-fired power plants in the Philippines hit 10,944 megawatts (MW) equivalent to 58,176 gigawatt hours of power generation or 57 percent of the entire mix.
As of this writing, the situation has eased up but the ban has prompted the Department of Energy (DOE) to find long term solutions to secure the country’s supply of coal.
The ban also further strengthened the case for advocates of renewable energy for the government to push the development and use of more indigenous and cleaner sources of power.
Electricity and the looming power shortage
At this point, both the government and the private sector have raised the alarm of thin power supply in the summer months.
All indications point to electricity reserves to be thin especially with the continued recovery of the economy from the pandemic as well as the scheduled national elections in May.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines warns of thin power supply this summer in the Luzon grid due to higher demand and bats for the need of the government to issue policies to support demand side management to ensure adequate power during the upcoming elections in May.
Historically, the interruptible load program (ILP) alongside consumer education are the only demand side management schemes being implemented by the government to lower the country’s need for electricity during the summer months.
Under ILP, customers with large electricity consumption are encouraged to run their own generator sets whenever supply of electricity in the grid is short in exchange for monetary incentives. The fuel they will use in running their own power source are also paid by consumers.
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) which serves majority of the Luzon grid, is seeking for the approval of the DOE for the conduct of another competitive selection process (CSP) worth 180 MW from baseload sources for the summer season.
Meralco has also called offers from generation companies to join its CSP for the supply of 170 MW of electricity from peaking power also needed for the summer months.
Based on initial forecast, peak demand in the Luzon grid this year might reach 12,387 MW expected to occur sometime in May 2022 but still subject to changes especially with the possible effects of the resurgence of Covid-19 in the country.
Last year, Luzon grid’s peak demand was at 11,640 MW.
Demand is seen to skyrocket in the summer for distinct reasons not least of which is the expected opening of the economy as the ill effects of the variants of the virus are seen to be better managed. With the economy needing all hands on deck to recover, food and power supply, and the bounty from our minerals and all other resources from the earth, will need to be harnessed for them to best play their central role in every scenario of growth.
