By Elijah Felice Rosales -June 27, 2019
BUSINESS groups on Wednesday asked
President Duterte to allow his economic team to review the franchise bill of
Solar Para sa Bayan Corp. (SPBC) on issues of competition and alleged lack of
deliberation.
In a joint statement, business
groups said granting Solar Para sa Bayan the franchise will accord it with
competitive edge over rival renewable-energy firms operating in the
Philippines. Citing competition concerns, they appealed to the President to
pass on House Bill 8179, the franchise measure, to his economic managers for
their assessment.
Solar Para sa Bayan, owned by
Leandro L. Leviste, son of Sen. Loren B. Legarda, has been granted by Congress
a 25-year-franchise to put up and operate solar grids in remote and unviable,
unserved and underserved areas in the country.
“This [HB 8179] will make less
viable the operations of the other renewable-energy companies and qualified
third parties, which have been operating after compliance with substantive and
formal requirements set by law. In other words, the grant of the franchise may
defeat the President’s objective of leveling the playing field in the
renewable-energy sector and could prejudice power consumers,” the statement
read.
“We understand that Solar Para sa
Bayan’s franchise bill was approved so swiftly and, thus, may have been
approved without sufficient deliberation to thresh out fundamental
constitutional, legal and economic issues,” it added.
The House of Representatives and the
Senate on June 4, one of their last sessions before sine die adjournment,
ratified the franchise bill. The measure was ratified in spite of objections
from Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who opposed an insertion in the bicameral
report, which he argued “will negatively affect the power industry.”
“This insertion is in the definition
of an underserved area, which will now include areas ‘where electricity
services have been interrupted at least 12 times in the 12 months preceding the
date of the determination that such area is underserved,’” Gatchalian said in
his objection speech.
Business groups said Duterte
approving the franchise bill will put Solar Para sa Bayan’s competitors at a
disadvantage. As a resolve, they asked the President to leave the dirty work of
reviewing the measure’s impact on competition, as well as to consumers, to
government economists.
“In view of the impact of Solar Para
sa Bayan’s franchise bill on small, mini and micro grids now operating in the
country, as well as to the power consumers in general, we appeal to His
Excellency to have the members of the economic cluster of the Cabinet review
this franchise bill prior to any executive action,” the statement read.
The joint statement was signed by
the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Financial Executives
Institute of the Philippines, Makati Business Club and the Management
Association of the Philippines. The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in
the Philippines Foundation Inc. and the Women’s Business Council Philippines
also signed the statement.
An online petition launched by
nonprofit Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance is asking the return of
HB 8179 to Congress for it to be deliberated again.
The petition claimed the franchise
bill has no electrification obligations for Solar Para sa Bayan, will favor
only one firm, will eliminate competition and was approved by lawmakers without
due process and only after one public hearing. It is targeting to garner 10,000
signatures, and has 7,666 as of writing.
In its web site, Solar Para sa Bayan
claimed an estimated 12 million Filipinos lack access to electricity as of
2016. This translates to 10.4 percent unelectrified households in the whole of
the Philippines. By island, 5.2 percent of households in Luzon is in need of
power access, 7.6 percent in Visayas and 27.6 percent in Mindanao.
The Department of Energy is eyeing
to achieve 100-percent electrification by the end of Duterte’s term in
2022.
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