Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star) -
September 16, 2018 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The approval
of a bill granting a mega power franchise to a subsidiary of Solar Philippines
has not been railroaded, Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap, the measure’s principal author,
said yesterday.
“No railroading. We went through two
committee hearings lasting three hours each. Everyone was given a chance to
comment,” he said.
He asked 15 colleagues opposed to
the proposed franchise grant why they “belatedly” filed Resolution 2182, which
urges the committee on rules to return Bill 8179 to the committee on
legislative franchises “for further deliberations.”
“Whose interests are threatened?
Should we not prioritize the millions of Filipinos with no power or with
intermittent power while they are being price gouged for electric rates? Are we
serious about spreading the benefits of electricity for all or not?” he asked.
Sen. Loren Legarda’s son Leandro
Leviste founded Solar Philippines.
Bill 8179 seeks to grant Solar’s
subsidiary Solar Para Sa Bayan Corp. (SPSBC) a franchise “to construct,
install, establish, operate and maintain distributable power technologies and
mini-grid systems throughout the Philippines to improve access to sustainable
energy.”
In Resolution 2182, the 15 opponents
of the bill said the committee on franchises held only one hearing last Aug.
29.
They said four days “after the first
deliberations,” the committee endorsed the proposed franchise grant to SPSBC
and submitted it to the rules committee a day later.
“There were members of the House who
intended to participate in the deliberations but were not able to do so due to
the apparent haste in passing the bill,” they said.
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