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TUESDAY, 03 APRIL 2012 20:44 JONATHAN MAYUGA / REPORTER
A STUDY conducted by the La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga), which acts as convening organization of the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI), revealed a discrepancy in the funds available for better air quality and renewable-energy (RE) development. The group, in its recent report as part of its “Budget Tracking and Reforms for Clean Air and Renewable Energy” project in partnership with the British Embassy Manila in Quezon City, said there is a discrepancy of P86.7 million between the report of actual collection and remittance by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) with the amount certified by the Bureau of Treasury (BTr).
Based on the 2004-2007 National Air Quality Status Report released in 2009, some P189,994,118.62 was deposited to the BTr by the two agencies. As of March 2009, the fund was reported to have reached P229,147,894.30.
As of December 2009, the Air Quality Management Fund (AQMF) has reached P234,323,648.80, but the total amount certified by the BTr was only P147,563.170.67.
The data, culled from a presentation by the DENR on the occasion of the 12th year of Clean Air Act, showed a discrepancy in the amount of approximately P86.7 million.
La Liga Managing Director Roland Cabigas said the discrepancy in the amounts “is too substantial to be ignored” and that concerned agencies in charge of the funds must be able to reconcile the reports of deposited amounts of collecting agencies, the LTO and EMB, with the amounts certified by the BTr.
He urged President Aquino to look into the status of the AQMF and the Renewable Energy Trust Fund (RETF), which can boost efforts in addressing two of the most pressing issues the country is facing today.
The study further said the government has been remiss in fully utilizing funds that are supposed to be available for better air quality and the development of RE sources in lieu of “dirty” coal and fuel.
The report tracked the status and progress of two special funds created by virtue of environment-related legislations—the Clean Air Act of 1999 and the RETF—that was supposed to be created by the RE Act of 2008.
The Department DENR-EMB earlier revealed that Metro Manila’s air quality is “improving” but remains “unhealthy” because effort to reduce total suspended particulates or the dusts in the air fail to achieve the target of lowering the concentration of pollutants in the air to 90 Unit gram per Normal cubic meter (Ug/Ncm).
The group also called for the establishment of the RETF to finance programs that will kick-off the development, utilization and commercialization of the vast but largely untapped RE sources in the Philippines, such as biomass, geothermal, wind, ocean and solar energy. The Renewable Energy Act of 2008 mandates the establishment of the RETF.
La Liga’s study, however, revealed that the RETF has yet to be established. As the main funding source for RE according to the law, Cabigas said that the delay in establishing the RETF goes beyond the issues on delayed and lack of financing.
“It’s delay [establishment of the fund] has repercussions on the specific mandate and objectives that formed the spirit of the RE Act, for our energy security and contribute to environment protection including climate-change adaptation and mitigation, poverty alleviation and ultimately national development”, Cabigas added.
While there is keen interest from the private sector to invest in RE through public-private partnerships (PPPs), public investment continues to remain low, as evidenced by the budgets of the DOE related to RE in the GAAs from 2008 to 2012, the study noted.
Cabigas said that the government must be able to catch-up and, at the minimum, match the capacities and expertise of its private sector counterparts in order to claim its leadership role in PPPs for RE development by increasing public investments on technology, human resources and expertise, research and development and participatory processes to be sourced from the RETF.
In Photo: (From left) Roland G. Cabigas, managing director, La Liga Policy Institute; British Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie; and Gilbert C. Gonzalez, assistant director,Enviromental Management Bureau, DENR in a huddle during the La Liga Policy Institute’s Forum on tracking the status and progress of the Air Quality Management Fund and the Renewable -Energy Trust Fund held at Quezon City Sports Club. (Nonoy Lacza)
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