DOE seeks to expedite projects

Manila Times.net
Published : Wednesday, December 07, 2011 00:00 Written by : Krista Angela M. Montealegre


THE Department of Energy is pushing for a law that will recognize projects of national significance.
On the sidelines of the 2011 Energy Investment Forum, Secretary Jose Rene Almendras told reporters that a number of projects such as transmission lines and coal power plants could not move forward because of problems with local government units.


If the law is passed, LGUs cannot “touch” energy projects of national significance, Almendras said.


“You need to correct the situation where a local government unit can hold the whole country hostage to a situation,” he said.


“I have transmission lines that go through a municipality and the municipality wants to charge grossly exorbitant taxes. If I don’t pay the taxes, they will foreclose the wires so the whole country’s going to suffer, the whole grid is going to collapse,” he said.


Almendras said the agency is exploring various options and is working with the Board of Investments
in reviewing the Build-Operate-Transfer Law.


He said the proposal is not “very popular” in Congress because of the presence of government officials associated with the concerned areas.


“If you really want to make it stick, it’s got to be a law,” Almendras said.


In 2009, the DOE proposed the declaration of vital energy-related infrastructure as projects of national significance.


The proposal was broached in response to the clamor of business groups following the City of Manila’s spot zoning, which nearly caused the closure of the Pandacan oil depot.