MIRIAM INVITES FOREIGN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE TO SENATE ENERGY HEARING

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago called for a Senate Committee on Energy hearing for Friday (June 6) following senators’ collective condemnation of the statement from foreign chambers of commerce regarding the country’s energy policy.

In a letter last May 27, the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) urged President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo not to renegotiate the government contracts with independent power producers (IPPs) nor amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira). This drew the ire of senators, saying that the foreign business group is meddling with lawmakers’ efforts to reduce power rates.

Santiago said that it is a question of what kind of amendment the JFC doesn’t want, since Congress is only changing certain provisions of the Epira and not its entirety.

“The only problem with the IPPs is that they have a take-or-pay provision which is very onerous to the Filipino taxpayer. The foreigners can source their electricity from IPPs with take-or-pay provisions but it should not be a standard clause in our contracts of the government and the IPPs,” the senator said.

Santiago invited presidents of various foreign business groups to the hearing, among them Rick Santos of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Richard Barclay of the Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Stewart Hall of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Hubert D’Aboville of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Toshifumi Inami of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Jae Jang of the Korean Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, and Shameem Qurashi of the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters, Inc.

Also invited to the hearing are Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, National Power Corporation President Cyril C. Del Callar, Power Sector Assets & Liabilities Management Corporation President Jose C. Ibazeta, Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Rodolfo Albano Jr., and Ernesto Pantangco, president of the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association.